ITT We post pics and talk about our ham projects, big or small. (Page 18 of 19)
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I'm a general since 09. I have an Icom W32a that I haven't used since 2012? Things got kinda lost and put off after my divorce back then. I've moved from the coast of AL to near the TN line of AL. I dug out my old W32a HT and can hear chatter on local repeaters on 2 meter, but since I'm more rural I know i need more than the rubber duck on my HT. I don't really have a project per say, but I'm thinking about a taller antenna to get out better. |
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And with a little bit of help from a friend, base antenna is up. I have my nice warm seat inside again. I also have a 2 post rack and shelves sitting in my office (that looks like a bomb went off in it) to reorganize everything in. I too was going to run power down one side, but I'm not convinced that it's going to be completely possible to run coax on the other side, I still think it will be more straight down the back. |
So, I spent a few hours cleaning up my office, and it's nowhere completed, but I did get 95% of my radios moved over to the rack that has been sitting in the middle of my office taking up space, and was able to push it into place. It's not "organized" but it's better than it was.
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Originally Posted By tweiss3: So, I spent a few hours cleaning up my office, and it's nowhere completed, but I did get 95% of my radios moved over to the rack that has been sitting in the middle of my office taking up space, and was able to push it into place. It's not "organized" but it's better than it was. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/374971/PXL_20251026_231747418-3648683.jpg That is a propper radio room sir. Very nice. My current project is making an aluminum cased waterproof mesh radio. Ordered a bunch of parts from some vendors. Paid too much for the antennas, but a man has his weaknesses. |
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Getting there. Still need a power pole distribution block, another shelf and a monitor that will fit the space. Attached File |
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Box roughed in for mesh radio. Need a smaller battery and need to make a board to mount the radio inside. Attached File |
Today's project: clean electrolyte off a radio, it's battery, and a charger after inadvertently placing a radio in a charging dock when it was loaded with alkaline batteries.  Rearranged the shack a little, and freed up some space. Decided to plop a few radios in their chargers on a shelf, and forgot that one of the battery packs had alkaline. Which is ok...but not ok to charge. lol...doh. |
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Attached File Built an MMDVM hotspot using a C4 Labs case and a Raspberry Pi 3A+. This was for friend. 
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“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.” Ronald Reagan
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Recently got a EF Johnson 5100 ES with limited keypad in VHF. Managed to get it programmed up but only have one VHF p25 repeater I can hit in the area. Plugged some analog repeaters into it and a few WX stations for grins. Radio did not come with any battery, antenna, or charger, so the price of them goes up exponentially if you don';t haver any of that. Luckily, I have a UHF full keypad model of the same radio and ordered an APX antenna for VHF off of Amazon, which seems to work, although it is their GPS version. Maybe will get a vhf hotspot eventually. Don't know, can't say. |
You can't change yesterday, and tomorrow isn't guaranteed. Get your head together.
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Antique store find. Circa 1925 best I can tell. Wife insisted I buy it because "it would look cool upstairs on the secretary." (She's a primitive/farmhouse/art deco fan). Missing some of the innards, especially coils. A 199 and 299 vacuum tube were included, short 4-pin bayonet types. It's destined to become a base for a loop antenna; I'll use one of the caps and vernier for tuning, and add a mast to the back of the cabinet to hold a diamond loop about 3' on a side. 
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@hammerfired Originally Posted By hammerfired: I'm a general since 09. I have an Icom W32a that I haven't used since 2012? Things got kinda lost and put off after my divorce back then. I've moved from the coast of AL to near the TN line of AL. I dug out my old W32a HT and can hear chatter on local repeaters on 2 meter, but since I'm more rural I know i need more than the rubber duck on my HT. I don't really have a project per say, but I'm thinking about a taller antenna to get out better. Build a quarter wave vertical, LINK, and put it in your attic. Or you could get a mag-mount vertical and pit it on top of and large metal object such as a filing cabinet, refrigerator, etc.. Even a cookie sheet will work. Not ideal, but better than a duckie. If you can work with copper tubing, build a "copper cactus". LINK |
"...Capitalism...shares its blessings unequally; ...Socialism...shares its miseries equally."
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Got the loop built and mounted to the back of the receiver cabinet, wired to the larger of the two air variable capacitors (lets call them "condensers" to keep with the terminology of the Roaring Twenties).  It tunes from about 4.5 MHz up to about 20 MHz - too much stray capacitance to go any higher. Loop is 3/8" copper tube, 30" across.  I tried all day to make a contact on 20m. I could hear stations but I was in their noise when they managed to detect my presence. Tonight I got checked into the Friendship Net on 7.134 with my 20W SSB from the Xiegu G90. 5-5 into Sebring FL from VA. Only net control could hear me. Small mag loop and QRP will take this game to a new level. The IC-7300 and EFHW is like shooting fish in a barrel compared to this! Wife will allow it to sit out in plain view of guest bedrooms since it is a vintage decor item, even with my somewhat authentic additions. I showed her on The Pinterest what 1920's loop antennas and loudspeakers actually looked like, so she cannot question the historicity of the idea 
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Originally Posted By Prolix: Got the loop built and mounted to the back of the receiver cabinet, wired to the larger of the two air variable capacitors (lets call them "condensers" to keep with the terminology of the Roaring Twenties). https://i.imgur.com/pxSYDTI.jpeg It tunes from about 4.5 MHz up to about 20 MHz - too much stray capacitance to go any higher. Loop is 3/8" copper tube, 30" across. https://i.imgur.com/ZvKnlwB.jpeg I tried all day to make a contact on 20m. I could hear stations but I was in their noise when they managed to detect my presence. Tonight I got checked into the Friendship Net on 7.134 with my 20W SSB from the Xiegu G90. 5-5 into Sebring FL from VA. Only net control could hear me. Small mag loop and QRP will take this game to a new level. The IC-7300 and EFHW is like shooting fish in a barrel compared to this! Wife will allow it to sit out in plain view of guest bedrooms since it is a vintage decor item, even with my somewhat authentic additions. I showed her on The Pinterest what 1920's loop antennas and loudspeakers actually looked like, so she cannot question the historicity of the idea A loop is on my list of antennas to try. That is very cool! They are directional. |
World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?
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I think ideally you want the tuning capacitor to be closer to or even inside the circumference of the loop, not attached by about 18" of wire on each leg as I have done here. This was to make the cabinet, condenser and vernier dial functional and not purely decorative/mechanical support - and to keep the appearance less cluttered. The tuning is critical, and a VERY small tweak of the dial will shift the resonance on 20m by tens of kHz. Similarly, turning the loop to a different azimuth will change the resonance, as it twists the leads going into the cabinet and changes their stray capacitance. I have found that the loop orientation where local noise drops and the orientation where the received station is the strongest can lie in differing directions, making optimum antenna pointing for best signal/noise a challenge. Every re-orientation of the loop requires a tweak of the condenser or a cycle of the G90 tuner. Playing with this thing has meant lots of use of the G90 SWR sweeper and the internal tuner! A later iteration is planned using a split stator vari-cap for less hand capacitance effect, positioning it further toward the rear of the cabinet to reduce length of the pigtails. These changes may allow a higher self-resonance point and the use of the loop on 21 MHz. Eventually I may mount the air variable at the bottom of the loop like everyone else does and let the radio cabinet and its dials all be merely decorative. Won't look as neat and clean, though, with the capacitor showing. |
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Originally Posted By Prolix: snip Small mag loop and QRP will take this game to a new level. The IC-7300 and EFHW is like shooting fish in a barrel compared to this! I have had a few of the MFJ loops, IIRC it's about a -8dB hit compared to a a conventional antenna, so yeah, you're taking 20W down to about 4W (or 5W down to under 1W) with that hit. It's doing radio on hard mode. But man are they nice quiet RX antennas! |
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Upstairs shack related: The Dell 7139 I use for HamClock and digital modes when doing things like POTA decided to act up. So...fresh install of Mint 22.1 then build tools installation and building fldigi, flrig and wfview. Install wsjtx, get the HamClock source and build it. Zero to done in about 3 hours. Downstairs shack: Got cable troughs for the computer stuff in the mail. Currently working on the last pieces needed to assemble the second and third parts of the bench. |
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I switched work vehicles, so last week I was stuck with an HT only. Still managed to get into the morning net most of the week. I did get the radio installed this weekend, not too bad, NX5700+NX5800+KCH20R feature head on the LidoRadio Heavy Duty Seat Bolt Mount. Missing only ignition sense. I don't know how I'm going to install the SDS100, as I don't have much room. Also this weekend I hooked up ignition sense in the wife's truck, but "off" drops to 1.3v, not zero volts, so it's still not operating as it is supposed to be. Atleast it's progress..... |
Joined:
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Posts:
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USA
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Originally Posted By lorazepam: A loop is on my list of antennas to try. That is very cool! They are directional. @lorazepam Keep an eye out on this clubs website. I know they say they are not currently selling them. They build a bunch as a club and sell them. Maybe send a email see if they have one laying around. They are cheap compared to something like the AlexLoop, but are just as good. I had one for awhile, and sold it because I just didn't use it often enough. https://tricountyradio.org/magloop/ |
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Originally Posted By CashOnlyLargeBills: @lorazepam Keep an eye out on this clubs website. They build a bunch as a club and sell them. They are cheap compared to something like the AlexLoop, but are just as good. I had one for awhile, and sold it because I just didn't use it often enough. https://tricountyradio.org/magloop/ I have seen those on ebay once in a while. I might get one instead of building it myself. I think a metal and wire version of a 20m delta loop will come first, though. |
World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?
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Did the cobbling thing last night; made QSO's on 160 SSB, 100W. It's about S7 when I'm usually 10 0ver S9 on the EFHW. Measures 54" on a side, 3-turn loop of 18 ga silicone hookup wire. Walking out of the shack to manually retune to resonance without being able to see the rig gets old fast. Q is high, as you'd expect. 2:1 bandwidth is about 8 kHz either side of resonance, which is 1.1:1 VSWR.    At the other end of the variable-cap, it'll tune all of 75-80m as well. |
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Originally Posted By Prolix: Did the cobbling thing last night; made QSO's on 160 SSB, 100W. It's about S7 when I'm usually 10 0ver S9 on the EFHW. Measures 54" on a side, 3-turn loop of 18 ga silicone hookup wire. Walking out of the shack to manually retune to resonance without being able to see the rig gets old fast. Q is high, as you'd expect. 2:1 bandwidth is about 8 kHz either side of resonance, which is 1.1:1 VSWR. https://i.imgur.com/PVSpSUY.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/XRMaMQy.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/hoMQepM.jpeg At the other end of the variable-cap, it'll tune all of 75-80m as well. Very cool, but it needs a HV vacuum variable capacitor and remote stepper motor controller to make your antenna perfect.  However your wood working skills are off the chart!!! |
“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.” Ronald Reagan
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It absolutely does! Remote tuning is the only practical way to go. I'm just enjoying the tinkering, for now. My next steps this winter will probably be to explore what's practical for the shorter wavelength bands with a table top loop and a diminutive QRP transceiver (picture a Doug DeMaw ARRL Handbook design, built dead-bug style) - portability and aesthetic charm over practicality and pile-up busting DX power. In my sentimental mind, I'm looking to create the station I never had as a child (because I wasn't licensed until age 24), one that I would have tucked into a pillowcase and taken to nana and grandpa's house for an overnight and operated (CW) from their dining room table or their upstairs bedroom dormer. |
Latest loop project. This one is 36" across. Just messing with turns and the varicap I had on hand - formulas are for nerds; this is a cut and try experiment, with lots of wire ending up on the floor. Started with 5 turns, self-resonance way too low for what I was after. At 2 and a half turns of 18ga wire, it covers 80, 60 and 40, with some adjustments still to be made on the size of the coupling loop. Heard a POTA station calling CQ on 40 and hurriedly got it resonant where he was...  Nailed that sucker on the second call! Not bad for a desktop size antenna in the basement, below grade. I did use 100 watts though. Tickled pink with this thing - it's fun. |
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@Prolix Genius! Attached File |
Don't confuse where I live with where I'm from.
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Originally Posted By JoeDevola: Couple days ago got a 1:49 transformer, made a 80m EFHW out of aluminum fence wire, strung up and made contacts on 80m, 40m, 20m, & 10m, CONUS & Canada. Will be looking at a permanent mounting solution for it over next few days. Mine is on a 4' wooden fence post and the wire is hooked to a rope tossed in a tree. It was my first antenna, and still works great. |
World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?
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Originally Posted By Emoto: @Prolix Genius! https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/20679/workbench_wheels_png-3667764.JPG It works okay - requires careful adjustment to function in true wheelbarrow fashion without a sudden stop! Fortunately, I seldom relocate the thing. IIRC, the idea came from an airplane builders' forum, long ago. |
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Got my 80m EFHW up a bit higher on one end (long bamboo pole attached to T-post), so now not aslope, just horizontal. Also trimmed it a little for better resonance in middle of the bands. All improved. Made contacts in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere in CONUS. |
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Originally Posted By JoeDevola: Got my 80m EFHW up a bit higher on one end (long bamboo pole attached to T-post), so now not aslope, just horizontal. Also trimmed it a little for better resonance in middle of the bands. All improved. Made contacts in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere in CONUS. I have tested two EFHWs switching between them, a flat top and a sloper down to about 5'. The flat top did work better on most stations, some strong stations were the same on both. I like the simplicity and effectiveness of the EFHW. Not the best antenna, but damned simple, covers a lot of bands, and just works! I need to get mine extended to 80M, they are only 40M. |
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Joined:
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Posts:
367
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UT, USA
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Anyone seen these?? IP mesh unit 
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Originally Posted By Prolix: Longevity is secondary. We'll deal with longevity after the '26 spring thaw. The point is, you got it up and you're on the air!  Indeed! Made a QSO with a station in Chile. He gave me 5/9, pretty surprising. His signal was rock solid too. |
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Recased my XPR. The side connector was wearing out (after a little over 10 years of fairly rugged use on motos, sleds, snowcats, and towers... piece of junk, i should have used a baofeng ). Could have gotten another black housing, but ebay sellers had them in a dozen different colors. So .... ORANGE!  Women color-coordinate their outfits. I color-coordinate my toys.  
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Originally Posted By lorazepam: It will be easier to see which way it bounces if you drop it off a tower.   Coworker was on the other end of a ~50mi shot, I tried calling him to let him know where I was at with my end... radio silence. Radio'd down to my crew to figure out what was going on, they called the other side on the site phone, "Technical difficulties, he'll be back on air in a minute". Wasn't till later I got the story of what happened.  Radio's usually tied to a speaker-mic stitched through my harness, and the connector's not gonna pop out accidentally. I've had the radio slip off the belt clip as it gets hung up on a rung, but I've never dropped it.  Big fan of the chunky and rugged firefighter-proof speaker mics. Rocking an SM8 for my Viking on snow this year.I may get a bluetooth clip/ptt, see how well that works for tower jobs. If bluetooth will link from a radio on the tailgate of the truck to where i'm at on the tower, then I only carry a little lapel mic/ptt with an awareness earbud in.  |
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I had a day above freezing, and a non cloudy sky and I thought I would see what I could get out of the solar panel this late in the year. I have had a battery and an inverter hooked to the wife's tv in the bedroom for a couple days to see how well it worked if the power goes out. I hooked up a 10a charge controller to the 100w flexsolar panel, and the max wattage I saw was 66. I am good with that considering how low the sun is in the sky. It's a panel that folds up to the size of a laptop. They have them marked down to 65 bucks on amazon, a great deal for a portable panel.  
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World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?
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Originally Posted By lorazepam: I had a day above freezing, and a non cloudy sky and I thought I would see what I could get out of the solar panel this late in the year. I have had a battery and an inverter hooked to the wife's tv in the bedroom for a couple days to see how well it worked if the power goes out. I hooked up a 10a charge controller to the 100w flexsolar panel, and the max wattage I saw was 66. I am good with that considering how low the sun is in the sky. It's a panel that folds up to the size of a laptop. They have them marked down to 65 bucks on amazon, a great deal for a portable panel. www.amazon.com/dp/B0DX6W8HM4 IIRC you posted that deal before, but it required Prime to get that price - however now it doesn't require Prime, so I just ordered one. Thanks... |
Two guns, one bullet
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95% of my new bench is finished. Waiting for one more 96x18 solid door to show up and stain then the wood butchery will be complete. Been putting out gear on the finished sections as I go. One area has an FT-980/FL-7000 pair with another 980/FTV-901R adjacent to them. Next shelf up is a couple FT-726Rs with accessories. To their right and in the corner is a complete FT-901DM station including an FL-2100Z. An NRD-515 is being used as a secondary receiver. To the right of the 901 section is a JRC NSD/NRD-515 ensemble. Two receivers and the transmitter plus accessories. At the very far end is the Drake station. For 160-20M a TR-7/R-7/L-7/MN-2700 is used. 15 through 10 utilizes a TR-5/R-7/L-75/MN-2700. Every accessory available for the lines are used and I'm refurbishing the various pieces as they're set out for use. Have to wire my 220v circuits in order to run the amps. You'll probably hear the TR-7 station on the Tuesday net from time to time. |
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Originally Posted By SnowMule: https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-gMRjwTg/1/L/i-gMRjwTg-L.jpg Coworker was on the other end of a ~50mi shot, I tried calling him to let him know where I was at with my end... radio silence. Radio'd down to my crew to figure out what was going on, they called the other side on the site phone, "Technical difficulties, he'll be back on air in a minute". Wasn't till later I got the story of what happened. Radio's usually tied to a speaker-mic stitched through my harness, and the connector's not gonna pop out accidentally. I've had the radio slip off the belt clip as it gets hung up on a rung, but I've never dropped it. https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-xPvqNdH/0/L/i-xPvqNdH-L.jpg Big fan of the chunky and rugged firefighter-proof speaker mics. Rocking an SM8 for my Viking on snow this year.I may get a bluetooth clip/ptt, see how well that works for tower jobs. If bluetooth will link from a radio on the tailgate of the truck to where i'm at on the tower, then I only carry a little lapel mic/ptt with an awareness earbud in. https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-4qgRPmt/0/L/i-4qgRPmt-L.jpg You have the best toys! |
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Originally Posted By HorusHearsay: Anyone seen these?? IP mesh unit https://i.postimg.cc/d3v7mPSH/IMG-3036.jpg I have, super cool. Would love to get something like that going with a few people. Unfortunately I'm the only one into the stuff enough to spend money on it. |
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Did some screw-on dust covers for an SO239 (UHF female) with a provision for tethering with a 3.2mm (1/8"?) beaded chain. Attached File I put source & model files on printables https://www.printables.com/model/1549584-dust-cover-for-so239-uhf-female |
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Picked up a second LifePO4 battery that matches the one in the Starlink Mini travel box. Figured I could use it by itself, or in conjunction with the Starlink box with the batteries connected in parallel. I put together a battery box using an MTM plastic 50 cal ammo box. Battery power to the fuse box is controlled by a relay. The box lid incorporates a PD65W usb-C charger, a duplex anderson powerpole pair, voltage display, battery control switch and cable passthrough (can be used with the solar panel connection). I made provision to be able to use the solar controller I bought for the Starlink box. I used a two part cleat for mounting the controller, so a matching cleat component in the battery box allows it to be mounted there as well. (Since I have two folding 100W panels, I may just pick up a second controller). Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File The Starlink Mini box Attached File |
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Originally Posted By nikdfish: Picked up a second LifePO4 battery that matches the one in the Starlink Mini travel box. Figured I could use it by itself, or in conjunction with the Starlink box with the batteries connected in parallel. I put together a battery box using an MTM plastic 50 cal ammo box. Battery power to the fuse box is controlled by a relay. The box lid incorporates a PD65W usb-C charger, a duplex anderson powerpole pair, voltage display, battery control switch and cable passthrough (can be used with the solar panel connection). I made provision to be able to use the solar controller I bought for the Starlink box. I used a two part cleat for mounting the controller, so a matching cleat component in the battery box allows it to be mounted there as well. (Since I have two folding 100W panels, I may just pick up a second controller). https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/128622/PXL_20260113_204743179_1__jpg-3693953.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/128622/PXL_20260113_204824884_1__jpg-3693954.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/128622/PXL_20260113_205012697_1__jpg-3693955.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/128622/PXL_20260113_205004254_1__jpg-3693956.JPG The Starlink Mini box https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/128622/PXL_20260107_194754626_1__jpg-3693959.JPG I too have the battery box sickness.
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World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?