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Posted: 12/10/2023 11:48:00 PM EDT
[#1]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By mancow: The G90's control head is removable and only needs a generic 9pin serial cable to connect it to the body. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By mancow: Originally Posted By Shootindave: The most reasonable solution for the Xiegu seems to be to jam it between the seat and other radio. Lol Got the Tarheel mounted. One more problem: the internet assured me this cheap Icom mic would work the G90........ does not seem to be the case. So still need a mic for it. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/123862/IMG_4746_jpeg-3055560.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/123862/IMG_4747_jpeg-3055561.JPG The G90's control head is removable and only needs a generic 9pin serial cable to connect it to the body. Yeah, I think I would need a sound amp to run a speaker from the radio body, as it only handles headphones. Are you going to publicly list that 6M repeater or is that a personal use project? |
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Posted: 12/11/2023 12:02:37 AM EDT
[#2]
It's public. It's on the Miami/Franklin County line in Kansas. 51.150/52.850 151.4
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Posted: 12/11/2023 12:42:04 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Shootindave]
[#3]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By mancow: It's public. It's on the Miami/Franklin County line in Kansas. 51.150/52.850 151.4 Cool. I travel around the Paola area sometimes and I am in Ottawa frequently. I will check it out from a couple different spots. |
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Posted: 12/12/2023 11:32:13 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: Yeah, I think I would need a sound amp to run a speaker from the radio body, as it only handles headphones. Are you going to publicly list that 6M repeater or is that a personal use project? You want to have good air circulation around the G90. There is a reason they sell the fan stand. |
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Posted: 12/23/2023 11:20:05 AM EDT
[#5]
 Best 2m antenna for ham radio: Introducing the Faraday Cloth Antenna I am either going to try to build my own version of this or figure out how to buy one. Cloth VHF Jpole using conductive faraday tape. |
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Posted: 12/23/2023 7:06:19 PM EDT
[Last Edit: lorazepam]
[#6]
Is it horse fence?
 
Edit: I see it's just some heavy ribbon and faraday tape. Neat idea. |
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Posted: 12/24/2023 10:39:18 AM EDT
[#7]
@Shootindave I found some of that tape, pretty dang cheap from the source. link
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Posted: 12/25/2023 12:36:16 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7K6DNLD9WoI am either going to try to build my own version of this or figure out how to buy one. Cloth VHF Jpole using conductive faraday tape. Ingenious! Looks like a fun project. |
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Posted: 12/25/2023 12:54:37 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By lorazepam: Is it horse fence? www.amazon.com/dp/B09YV33B8M Edit: I see it's just some heavy ribbon and faraday tape. Neat idea. If that would work for a rollup, would this work for an HF antenna? Electric Fence Wire |
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Posted: 12/25/2023 9:17:37 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By KYB762: If that would work for a rollup, would this work for an HF antenna? Electric Fence Wire Yes. So does the wider stuff. |
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Posted: 1/1/2024 6:09:26 PM EDT
[#11]
Our local club is building a reel type low power EFHW antenna. Should do about 25 watts.
A 49-1 unun, a fishing reel, BNC connector, and copper fishing line. 100 pf cap and some carabiner type clips. One member built something similar and used it 2023 FD to pretty good effect. This one has a type 43 toroid, about 1-1/8" diameter. #20 AWG for winding the coil, and away we go. Mine isn't complete yet, tomorrow is the meeting so maybe after that. I don't really need it, but it's pretty cool and takes up very little space to store it. Might be ideal for SOTA/POTA lower power. It will cover 6 to 80 meters if you put 135' wire or so on it. Just reel it in or out depending on desired band. |
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Posted: 1/1/2024 6:25:38 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Shootindave]
[#12]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By PoiDog: Our local club is building a reel type low power EFHW antenna. Should do about 25 watts. A 49-1 unun, a fishing reel, BNC connector, and copper fishing line. 100 pf cap and some carabiner type clips. One member built something similar and used it 2023 FD to pretty good effect. This one has a type 43 toroid, about 1-1/8" diameter. #20 AWG for winding the coil, and away we go. Mine isn't complete yet, tomorrow is the meeting so maybe after that. I don't really need it, but it's pretty cool and takes up very little space to store it. Might be ideal for SOTA/POTA lower power. It will cover 6 to 80 meters if you put 135' wire or so on it. Just reel it in or out depending on desired band. I have an old snap string reel I have sat aside for an end fed antenna reel. I havent ran across any copper fishing line at any local stores. Maybe I will order it online if I get more interested in the project. |
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Posted: 1/1/2024 7:51:53 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By PoiDog: Our local club is building a reel type low power EFHW antenna. Should do about 25 watts. A 49-1 unun, a fishing reel, BNC connector, and copper fishing line. 100 pf cap and some carabiner type clips. One member built something similar and used it 2023 FD to pretty good effect. This one has a type 43 toroid, about 1-1/8" diameter. #20 AWG for winding the coil, and away we go. Mine isn't complete yet, tomorrow is the meeting so maybe after that. I don't really need it, but it's pretty cool and takes up very little space to store it. Might be ideal for SOTA/POTA lower power. It will cover 6 to 80 meters if you put 135' wire or so on it. Just reel it in or out depending on desired band. That will take 100w SSB easy. That is an FT 140-43. |
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Posted: 2/17/2024 9:39:09 PM EDT
[#14]
Dang, been a long time since anyone had a project. I soldered up one of the chinese kits, a frequency counter/crystal reader. No smd to solder, all through hole. It took me a little over an hour and it was good practice for soldering. Nice on a new board instead of one you just desoldered a component from. It calibrated fine, now I need to figure out how to get signals into it from the radio.
 This is the type of kit I bought from china. |
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Posted: 2/17/2024 10:15:11 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By lorazepam: Dang, been a long time since anyone had a project. I soldered up one of the chinese kits, a frequency counter/crystal reader. No smd to solder, all through hole. It took me a little over an hour and it was good practice for soldering. Nice on a new board instead of one you just desoldered a component from. It calibrated fine, now I need to figure out how to get signals into it from the radio. This is the type of kit I bought from china. I like that!!! I think I need one now.
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Posted: 2/18/2024 12:14:08 PM EDT
[#16]
Back to working on the 40m Bitx.
I learned how to download and flash software/ firmware to the raspberry pi. I replaced the pi from when I wrecked, and replaced some circuit board paths with wire. There is a high pitched hum on receive I need to fix , and I am hoping to make a QSO on it this weekend before putting it into its home (a box someone printed for me from here!) |
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Posted: 2/18/2024 12:19:08 PM EDT
[Last Edit: penrod72]
[#17]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By K9-Bob: I like that!!! I think I need one now. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By K9-Bob: Originally Posted By lorazepam: Dang, been a long time since anyone had a project. I soldered up one of the chinese kits, a frequency counter/crystal reader. No smd to solder, all through hole. It took me a little over an hour and it was good practice for soldering. Nice on a new board instead of one you just desoldered a component from. It calibrated fine, now I need to figure out how to get signals into it from the radio. This is the type of kit I bought from china. I like that!!! I think I need one now. Did it come with directions you can read? |
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Posted: 2/18/2024 1:32:10 PM EDT
[#18]
I myself am a bit of a project,
 so I may give myself a pass on the number of kits piling up on my workbench and talk about practicing head copy w/Morse Code Ninja and practicing my sending with a little Putikeeg trainer. |
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Posted: 2/18/2024 2:15:16 PM EDT
[#19]
Stumbled across the Inovato/Hamclock combo deal awhile back I got it setup and I must say, it is very nice. I use a much larger fan blowing on it and that seems to deal with the over-heating problem that others have noted. My internet out here in the country is not so great or the software for the sun information is flakey, but other than that I am enjoying the setup. I don't really need the sunspot info actually. I am sort of thinking of messing with the software to see what other program I might run in place of the sunspot app.
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Posted: 2/18/2024 2:55:25 PM EDT
[#20]
FYI for people using the cheap Evolve laptop for portable.
At full charge, the battery died/turned off in a couple minutes at 20* outside. Take a cable to pull power from a battery if it is cold, even for short use cases. |
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Posted: 2/18/2024 3:08:52 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Cordwood: Stumbled across the Inovato/Hamclock combo deal awhile back I got it setup and I must say, it is very nice. I use a much larger fan blowing on it and that seems to deal with the over-heating problem that others have noted. My internet out here in the country is not so great or the software for the sun information is flakey, but other than that I am enjoying the setup. I don't really need the sunspot info actually. I am sort of thinking of messing with the software to see what other program I might run in place of the sunspot app. Be careful with those, I found about 3-4 remote access programs, vpns, root login allowed on the default OS. You just need to shutdown a lot of services, or find an alt OS that doesn't come with 'gifts' from China or where ever. |
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Posted: 2/18/2024 5:32:45 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By penrod72: Think I will order one of those as well - looks like you may just need a wire/ antenna into the jack in the fron to pick up a signal from your transceiver. Did it come with directions you can read? It has a basic assembly guide and even less instructions. |
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Posted: 2/18/2024 5:35:56 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: FYI for people using the cheap Evolve laptop for portable. At full charge, the battery died/turned off in a couple minutes at 20* outside. Take a cable to pull power from a battery if it is cold, even for short use cases. Do you think a couple hand warmers under the battery might help? |
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Posted: 2/18/2024 8:47:59 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DarkLordVader: I got one of those. Be careful with those, I found about 3-4 remote access programs, vpns, root login allowed on the default OS. You just need to shutdown a lot of services, or find an alt OS that doesn't come with 'gifts' from China or where ever. Can you elaborate further on how to go about this? |
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Posted: 2/18/2024 9:30:58 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By lorazepam: Do you think a couple hand warmers under the battery might help? Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By lorazepam: Originally Posted By Shootindave: FYI for people using the cheap Evolve laptop for portable. At full charge, the battery died/turned off in a couple minutes at 20* outside. Take a cable to pull power from a battery if it is cold, even for short use cases. Do you think a couple hand warmers under the battery might help? I am not sure. For my phone i put a hand warmer in a sock with my phone when the cold zaps it. My Iphone 8 does not tolerate cold either. I am just going to chop the power cable and add power poles to feed it from my main battery. I need to get some more 15A connectors though for crimping to smaller wire. |
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Posted: 2/18/2024 9:54:05 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DarkLordVader]
[#26]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CS223: @DarkLordVader Can you elaborate further on how to go about this? Here are the packages that I had removed that were running and enabled by default.
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Posted: 2/19/2024 12:46:12 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DarkLordVader: Here are the packages that I had removed that were running and enabled by default.
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OH, USA
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Posted: 2/20/2024 2:01:40 PM EDT
[#28]
Not gear related but shack related:
Doing a lot of wood butchery in my main shack/home office in anticipation of building the main operating console. Think of a J with 15x5x17ft legs. Main table with a two level shelf all the way around. Will be worth it but is pretty time consuming from both an R&D and a shop time point. |
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Posted: 3/1/2024 6:51:01 PM EDT
[#29]
6BTV lost another trap.
 Attached FileBehold wood screws and solder applied with a torch  Attached File |
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Posted: 3/1/2024 8:02:59 PM EDT
[#30]
Measure the tubing and see if you have a local place that sells metal tubing, or same size on amazon.
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Posted: 3/1/2024 8:06:14 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DarkLordVader]
[#31]
An awesome directional UHF antenna made from mostly junk laying around.
Work quite well. I made a contact on a repeater 74 miles away from indoors through several walls.  Attached File |
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Posted: 3/1/2024 8:21:10 PM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DarkLordVader: An awesome directional UHF antenna made from mostly junk laying around. Work quite well. I made a contact on a repeater 74 miles away from indoors through several walls. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/322769/UHF_Corner-sm_jpg-3146333.JPG That is very cool. |
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Posted: 3/1/2024 8:31:28 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Shootindave]
[#33]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By lorazepam: Measure the tubing and see if you have a local place that sells metal tubing, or same size on amazon. The problem with the design seems to be the rivet connecting the metal tube with the plastic/fiberglass used for the trap coil. The rivet breaks and it just starts pulling its self apart. I got the antenna free because it was broken. Same exact break on a different trap that I fixed when i got it. Got it back working perfect again, and shortened the 30m section which i have been wanting to do for a year. |
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Posted: 3/1/2024 9:29:06 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: The problem with the design seems to be the rivet connecting the metal tube with the plastic/fiberglass used for the trap coil. The rivet breaks and it just starts pulling its self apart. I got the antenna free because it was broken. Same exact break on a different trap that I fixed when i got it. Got it back working perfect again, and shortened the 30m section which i have been wanting to do for a year. I'm going to put new wire on my DX commander this spring. it is 24awg silicone wire, and 3 winters have taken their toll. Going to replace with 18awg. |
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Posted: 3/1/2024 9:40:54 PM EDT
[Last Edit: KB7DX]
[#35]
Nice! I have a soft spot for corner reflectors.
 Looks like my next project will be a shack re-vamp after adding an IC-756Pro3 to the mix. "Wireless communications my @$$!" @SVGA-1 |
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Posted: 3/2/2024 12:56:19 AM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: The problem with the design seems to be the rivet connecting the metal tube with the plastic/fiberglass used for the trap coil. The rivet breaks and it just starts pulling its self apart. I got the antenna free because it was broken. Same exact break on a different trap that I fixed when i got it. Got it back working perfect again, and shortened the 30m section which i have been wanting to do for a year. Any history on the two antennas? Did the previous owners have them guyed? My 6BTV has only been up not quite a year, and seems to be holding up well so far. I have one set of 3 guy ropes right above the 30m trap. Though I am little disappointed in the bandwidth on 40m, and 80m is so narrow I'm just going to tune it for FT8 when it warms up a little more outside. I can't get 40m where I want it without removing a little of the tube between 40 and the 80m coil. I know you're not supposed to need to cut any of the tubes, but I can't see any other way because I am happy with the tuning on all the bands from 10 to 30m and I want 40m resonant in the center of the general class phone segment. |
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Posted: 3/2/2024 1:26:23 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Shootindave]
[#37]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Jambalaya: Any history on the two antennas? Did the previous owners have them guyed? My 6BTV has only been up not quite a year, and seems to be holding up well so far. I have one set of 3 guy ropes right above the 30m trap. Though I am little disappointed in the bandwidth on 40m, and 80m is so narrow I'm just going to tune it for FT8 when it warms up a little more outside. I can't get 40m where I want it without removing a little of the tube between 40 and the 80m coil. I know you're not supposed to need to cut any of the tubes, but I can't see any other way because I am happy with the tuning on all the bands from 10 to 30m and I want 40m resonant in the center of the general class phone segment. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Jambalaya: Originally Posted By Shootindave: The problem with the design seems to be the rivet connecting the metal tube with the plastic/fiberglass used for the trap coil. The rivet breaks and it just starts pulling its self apart. I got the antenna free because it was broken. Same exact break on a different trap that I fixed when i got it. Got it back working perfect again, and shortened the 30m section which i have been wanting to do for a year. Any history on the two antennas? Did the previous owners have them guyed? My 6BTV has only been up not quite a year, and seems to be holding up well so far. I have one set of 3 guy ropes right above the 30m trap. Though I am little disappointed in the bandwidth on 40m, and 80m is so narrow I'm just going to tune it for FT8 when it warms up a little more outside. I can't get 40m where I want it without removing a little of the tube between 40 and the 80m coil. I know you're not supposed to need to cut any of the tubes, but I can't see any other way because I am happy with the tuning on all the bands from 10 to 30m and I want 40m resonant in the center of the general class phone segment. The previous owner did not have any guying and I do not. I am not sure how many years it has been in service, probably over 10 years. Not sure. Not sure how long it was broken before being given to me. It is very odd how the traps fail. They pull up.... and you have to smash the shit out of them with a mallet to get them back together. Ice expansion is really the only thing that makes sense. Do you have enough length in radials for a quarter wave on 40m? I have bands set in the middle of ssb with 40m at 7.200 and 75m at 3.850. 30m as close to the FT8 frequ as possible. If you have to, take all the length out of the "D" measurements to shorten 30m all the way. See what that does. I also have 10m resonance a little long..... to help everything out. It is still below 2.2 across the band, but the dip is below 28.000. Just how it had to be to make the whole thing right in my case. 75/80 is very narrow. My dad bought a new one and we did cut the 80m whip to make it short enough for ssb. But I have put up a couple now for different people and never cut anything else. All my traps look like this now. Lol.  Attached File |
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Posted: 3/3/2024 3:24:34 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Gamma762]
[#38]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7K6DNLD9WoI am either going to try to build my own version of this or figure out how to buy one. Cloth VHF Jpole using conductive faraday tape. Vertical dipole is smaller and performs better than a J pole. You could make one like that construction method the way PC board antennas are commonly made:  Attached File |
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Posted: 3/3/2024 3:39:23 AM EDT
[#39]
I’m going to order some aluminum round pipe and try to get this little guy up 35’. Diamond F23H. Will be connected to my FT-2980.
 Attached File |
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Posted: 3/3/2024 11:54:49 AM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Gamma762: Vertical dipole is smaller and performs better than a J pole. You could make one like that construction method the way PC board antennas are commonly made: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/58237/pcb-vertical-dipole_png-3147733.JPG Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Gamma762: Originally Posted By Shootindave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7K6DNLD9WoI am either going to try to build my own version of this or figure out how to buy one. Cloth VHF Jpole using conductive faraday tape. Vertical dipole is smaller and performs better than a J pole. You could make one like that construction method the way PC board antennas are commonly made: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/58237/pcb-vertical-dipole_png-3147733.JPG That would be a good option as well. I still need to order the supplies for that. ---------- I am going to try out adding a wire to the top of my 17' whip for 40m for a daytime net instead of using the coil. I was looking around for a way to provide a little strain relief for the alligator clip and found this pull tab off an old plate carrier mag retainer.  Attached File |
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Posted: 3/3/2024 12:26:54 PM EDT
[#41]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DarkLordVader: An awesome directional UHF antenna made from mostly junk laying around. Work quite well. I made a contact on a repeater 74 miles away from indoors through several walls. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/322769/UHF_Corner-sm_jpg-3146333.JPG How much gain do you think your "junktenna" has? maybe around 10 to 12 dB? |
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Posted: 3/3/2024 12:42:12 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DarkLordVader]
[#42]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By K0UA: How much gain do you think your "junktenna" has? maybe around 10 to 12 dB? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corner_reflector_antenna I was thinking I needed a RF Field Strength meter about now. What are your thoughts on the Aluminum foil wrapped driven element over the 1" OD pcv? I was thinking it would buy me a wider band over a stiff copper wire. The element length ended up shorter than normal calculations, it was length trimmed in place for lowest SWR. |
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Posted: 3/3/2024 4:42:01 PM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DarkLordVader: Maybe, if my build meets expectations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corner_reflector_antenna I was thinking I needed a RF Field Strength meter about now. What are your thoughts on the Aluminum foil wrapped driven element over the 1" OD pcv? I was thinking it would buy me a wider band over a stiff copper wire. The element length ended up shorter than normal calculations, it was length trimmed in place for lowest SWR. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DarkLordVader: Originally Posted By K0UA: How much gain do you think your "junktenna" has? maybe around 10 to 12 dB? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corner_reflector_antenna I was thinking I needed a RF Field Strength meter about now. What are your thoughts on the Aluminum foil wrapped driven element over the 1" OD pcv? I was thinking it would buy me a wider band over a stiff copper wire. The element length ended up shorter than normal calculations, it was length trimmed in place for lowest SWR. since the radiator is so "big" I would think the SWR bandwidth would be very wide frequency wise. If you extrapolated those measurements out to something riduclous like an 80 meter antenna where a wide SWR bandwidth is VERY hard to achieve, that would be one really thick radiator. |
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Posted: 3/3/2024 4:55:55 PM EDT
[Last Edit: nikdfish]
[#44]
Had the bag of parts lying around for a while now, so finally put together another ATU100 for use with a mobile 10m. Added buttons for Auto & Bypass in addition to Tune. Printed the case fast n coarse (0.6 nozzle) in ASA. Print time was about 3.25 hrs.
 Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Posted: 3/3/2024 7:06:18 PM EDT
[#45]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By nikdfish: Had the bag of parts lying around for a while now, so finally put together another ATU100 for use with a mobile 10m. Added buttons for Auto & Bypass in addition to Tune. Printed the case fast n coarse (0.6 nozzle) in ASA. Print time was about 3.25 hrs. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/128622/PXL_20240303_201804631b_jpg-3148278.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/128622/PXL_20240303_204728772_PORTRAITb_jpg-3148280.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/128622/PXL_20240303_204718085_PORTRAITb_jpg-3148281.JPG Do you have a favorite source for assembly info and 3D print models? Somewhere I have a bag full of parts and an empty PCB. |
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Posted: 3/3/2024 7:26:36 PM EDT
[#46]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By targetworks: Do you have a favorite source for assembly info and 3D print models? Somewhere I have a bag full of parts and an empty PCB. The case is one I did in Fusion 360 a while back. I put copies on Printables https://www.printables.com/model/470357-case-for-atu-100-antenna-tuner The preferred version is the smaller one, model names prefixed with "s-", better labels & less wasted space. The easiest way to attach the display is hot glue applied to edges from the rear. General assembly is with M3 cap head screws. F360 & step files are included if mods are desired. I mainly used a schematic that had inductor winding info.(air core drill size, wire size & turn count). A good tip is to superglue the double ferrite cores before winding. Also scrape enough enamel to insure good solder connections. A quick Google search should turn up pics & more assembly tips. |
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Posted: 3/4/2024 7:23:06 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Shootindave]
[#47]
Ground straps on the car day.
All doors, hatch, hood, rear part of the exhaust. Antenna mounts tied in. Put the G90 back in and remounted the tarheel. Worked a couple POTA on 20M with good signal reports. I think I will need to attach the front section of the exhaust to get rid of the last of the ignition noise. Or maybe choke the coax and power cables. Need to figure out how to mount my speaker so it isnt a mess of wires everywhere. |
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Posted: 3/4/2024 11:18:05 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Jambalaya]
[#48]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: The previous owner did not have any guying and I do not. I am not sure how many years it has been in service, probably over 10 years. Not sure. Not sure how long it was broken before being given to me. It is very odd how the traps fail. They pull up.... and you have to smash the shit out of them with a mallet to get them back together. Ice expansion is really the only thing that makes sense. Do you have enough length in radials for a quarter wave on 40m? I have bands set in the middle of ssb with 40m at 7.200 and 75m at 3.850. 30m as close to the FT8 frequ as possible. If you have to, take all the length out of the "D" measurements to shorten 30m all the way. See what that does. I also have 10m resonance a little long..... to help everything out. It is still below 2.2 across the band, but the dip is below 28.000. Just how it had to be to make the whole thing right in my case. 75/80 is very narrow. My dad bought a new one and we did cut the 80m whip to make it short enough for ssb. But I have put up a couple now for different people and never cut anything else. All my traps look like this now. Lol. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/123862/IMG_5069_jpeg-3146605.JPG So I have 32 radials in the ground that are all about 33 feet long. They just barely fit in my fenced in area. I used 2 spools of 14 gauge THHN. I can put in more shorter radials but I think what I have now is pretty good. I had considered that shortening the higher bands should have the effect of also shortening the antenna on 40m. But when I tried that approach, it really threw everything out of whack and I ended up just retuning from scratch using DXE's recommended measurements as a baseline. 40m is "satisfactory" where it is, and using the radio's internal tuner it's really good. But if I eventually get an amp going I will want it spot on. 10m is a bit long perhaps, but it just so happens that 27 MHz CB band is under 2:1 SWR so that was also a bonus. But the 10m section below the trap and above the antenna base is already as short as it can go. I am using the DXE reinforced lower section in place of the factory Hustler tube, but it is the same length. |
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Posted: 3/11/2024 6:59:36 PM EDT
[Last Edit: nikdfish]
[#49]
Inspired by something similar I ran across, I did a "cap" for a 7ah LiFePO4 battery with a couple of andersons powerpole connectors built in. I'm thinking I'll probably do another version with more connectors & provision for built in automotive style fuses & voltage display.
 Attached File Attached File Attached FileThe cap is retained via use of servo tape. |
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Posted: 3/12/2024 4:09:46 PM EDT
[Last Edit: nikdfish]
[#50]
I did a revised version of the battery cap
 Attached File Attached FileI went back & redid the F360 model so major elements are parameterized. I can plug in numbers for battery dimensions, gauge dimensions, switch hole diameter and desired circuit count and generate a model automatically that reflects those settings. The model above used about 100grams of material & was a 2.5hr print on the Max3. ETA: Put file & F360 source on Printables: https://www.printables.com/model/804277-enhanced-lifepo4-battery-cap |
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