So I’ve had a very busy week or two both on day-to-day 9-5 (+!) and around the shack.
I am lucky enough that I get a gardener once a month to do all the lawns and bushes, and I used the opportunity this time to take down all the antennas allowing for a very good tidy lawn.
DX Commander #1 in place, very well guyed down due to the wind we are having of late
I also wanted to try out a method of increasing gain and reception using a 2 Element Parasitic Array on the 40m band – the youtube video here is really good at explaning how the setup works. I was already lucky enough to have another DX Commander on order before Calum goes on his holiday, so I set about measuring the distances and getting the 2nd DX Commander setup for just 40m
The main difference between a parasitic array is that its just for a single band and the distance between the two is 1/4 wavelength, in this case 10m. The wire *should* be a little lower on the 40m frequency than the ‘driven’ – but I am going to double check that when it comes to more fetteling (cant ever get an antenna too perfect imho !).
radials, still 4*5
that lovely wire
radials meet driven plate
parasitic 40m dx commander
As you can see in the pictures, I have followed Calum’s advice pretty much and put the radials down, doesnt matter on the 360, but the length is there for 40m. The main difference is that the radials are directly connected to the driven element plate and there is no physical wired connection between the two antennas. I did check the S.W.R. on 40m (and 15) and it was a more than acceptable 1.4:1 across the band *before* moving the radials up. (Note will be finding a cover for the SO239!)
I need to find a ‘good’ way on proving the parasitic is having the desired effect. Out of interest i did attach my rig master to it whilst transmitting WSPR on 40m and sure enough the SWR did go up, which does at least prove that its resonating a transmission on the right frequency.
In practice I gave trusty FT8 a go, and sure enough I was getting far more +db on the map than i have ever had. Now this isnt particuarly good ‘science’ as there could be so many reasons why that was happening, so i could of got lucky. But I will find (and if someone wants to add a comment please do !) on how to test the effectiveness (i’m expecting something like +3-5db gain) I’d be glad to accept it !
I have also upgraded my ‘main’ tranceiver, the reasons are multiple, but mostly the Icom 7300 got very good reviews and the price/performance balance looked amazing.
The Icom 7300 now in the shack
That is not to say that all the hard work and effort put into the Kenwood TS690-S will be wasted, absolutely not ! I have actually made another addition from Japan, this lovely microphone unit !
This pristine MC-85 came from Japan, sadly without box, but its immaculate !
I am hoping i can use the output switch between the Kenwood and Icom as this looks such a gorgeous microphone and the reviews of it are very promising.
I am going to put an end-fed multi bander on the TS-690S and having seen UK Antennas posted on the DX Commander Discord, done some research and went for it !
I have yet to install the antenna as I have moved my 2m/70cm mast to the rear garden. Putting out a big thanks to the after-sales support from Moonraker as I wanted to fully extended my 40ft antenna so i can use the 30m point as a ‘fulcrum’ for the end-fed antenna, creating a nice inverted ‘V’ to use.
Here is the mast I bought from them – the TMF-2 – it really is an amazing mast, yout get what you pay for with this. I looked at several sites, including this one on how to guy a mast. For 40ft it seemed i would need more guys – but gave the chaps at Moonraker a call to explain my mast, antenna and use, and re-located my guy-ring to a centre point on the sectional mast would be ok for a temporary antenna, with the obvious warnings for wind,etc.
I set about with my son (always good to have some help!) with getting the mast up and really well guyed in. I’m made up with the results, I’ve never seen the antenna looking so good and secure. The heavy duty base will be getting some additional ground-pegs but trust me that thing is HEAVY, its not going anywhere 🙂
40m mast with 2m/70cm J pole on top
I was able to reach all the local repeaters as before, but have yet to get a contact to check my signal report (such is VHF during the day time).
So there has been alot of change in the shack, but i’m really happy with the direction its going in !
So I have been using Wefax for getting fax weather transmissions. I really enjoy them and also find it useful in seeing how much QRM I am getting on the ‘wire’ so to speak. Recently a gentleman on youtube by the name of “Tech Minds” published this excellent video
Build a V-Pole for weather sats
Now I loved the instructions on this video and it has been something I’ve wanted to do. I asked “Tech Minds” if i could put the V-Pole adjacent to a 2m/70cm vertical, to which he said yes, so i was then on a mission to build my V-Dipole.
I already had decent electrical terminator blocks, so didnt need to order those.
I followed the instructions and set about mounting the antenna on the mast – i have to say i found this quite challenging on my own on how to attach the pvc pole to the mast, but sure enough, and with a few ‘oh dear’ (swearing may of been harsher) on dropping nuts/clamps i got it attached.
I then fed the coax from the mast back into the ‘shack’ where I put a PL-259 socket on .
I do love this video, and the guys no nonese approach
the method i use for puting on a PL259 onto coax.
With that i put the antenna via a PL-259 – SO-239 to SMA cable attached it to the RTL SDR Dongle.
Sure enough, i could pick up radio sounds no problem, so all the effort was worth it !
I then set about installing all the necessary software on my HAM computer, following yet another excellent tutorial from Tech Minds
Setting the software up on Windows
I initally tried with the HackRF, but for some reason it wasnt playing ball. Ironically as I knew that a sat should be overhead, i hooked up my other SDR to a basic scanner antenna, and i could hear the sat overhead ! Immediatly i set about setting up my mac for the receiver.
On the mac I used gqrx. The satellite track software is avaiable via macports, but i couldnt find a stable 64 bit version of translation software so used noaa-apt, which whilst not as feature rich, works incredbly well on a mac, as in being actively developed.
I tested with a ‘sample’ NOAA recording, and that produced the required map output ! iwas all set.
I waited patiently for the sats come and tracking and sure enough within an hour i had my first sat pass over ! Whilst the intial result wasnt amazing, it at least proved that antenna, SDR and decoder worked.
My first NOAA decode !
I then looked for future NOAA passes and a good candiate for going directly over was on for 6pm, so i waited and recorded, sure enough, i got a signal and a decode, and whilst the results arent amazing, its a good start in my book.
Second attempt at 6pm
As it was some time before the next pass i set about doing some fettling on the antenna, and found i hadnt got it North-South Aligned that well, so i rotated the antenna and made sure that all the connections were in good form after a full day up in the air.
checking connections
looking good, but those trees !
nicely on the mast, but requires orientation
checking after one day
I’ve not really done a write up of just how good the mast is I use for VHF/UHF, but you can see in the pictures below how high quality it is. All the stages are locking and push up/down without problem, even after rain, they is no fricion on the joints. The locking mechanisim is tough, but gives real confidence the pole isnt going to slip down. I use a ‘light’ guying system as i’ve only got 2 very light weight antennas on the mast (the 2m/70cm and now the NOAA) – any more would be overkill. The guy ropes and ground stakes are incredbly strong and go into the ground some 2ft at a guesstimate, the antenna only ever comes down for the worst weather forecasts.
If you want to invest in a good mast system i can really recommend these
With the antenna back up I now wait for the next good pass to try out how good the scan comes out. Its very exciting (for me) and thanks again to Tech Minds YouTube channel who puts really great content !
I’ll upload my pics to my STOATOPIC account as I get more decodes
gqrx receiving noaa 18gpredict communcating with gqrxtracking NOAA18 as it flys over my QTH
Tracking pattern
tracking of the pass, i can pick it up from 21:43Decode in NOAA-APTIts another fuzzy one!only the code-strip is visble, but keep trying !
bit of a longer post today so grab a cup of tea is recommend, else scroll through the page until you get to the bit you want to know about
Several weeks ago I was browsing the local 2nd hand radio shop where my TS690 came from, and amazingly they had the DSP-100.
Kenwood DSP-100 – finding chicken teeth is easier
The DSP-100 is one of the first ever Digital Signal Processors. Kenwood were pretty ahead of the game when they released it. You will see all the filters and features you see in this unit in most modern transceivers, but this is (I guess) about 20+ years old, and are hard to come by. I dont mind saying this unit, 2nd hand was £333 ,which is only £40 different of what I paid for the TS690S, but what it brings to the radio is RF filtered and processed. The promise of ‘hi-fi’ quality SSB, AM, CW and RTTY was too good to pass up. And it looks gorgeous too 🙂
When I first set it up with my TS-690s I connected in my xggcomms Kenwood interface I started running into issues. I honestly believe this is no fault of the xggcomms device, but moreso on how the RS232 signal from the DSP-100 unit is processed and fed into the transceiver. Its fair to say whilst I was overjoyed in having the DSP, alot of what i do requires a good CAT connection to constantly adjust the frequency (FT8 & WSPR), so I reverted back to the Xggcomms interface only and started investigating.
Upon searching, other people had experience similar, but not identical issues. The key to fix this was the IF-232C. This translates the serial input into signals at the correct levels for the DSP & the TS690s.
Up until now I have been using a laptop, which had become increasingly over burdened with USB dongles/hubs coming out of it, also getting the computer to be ‘RF Friendly’ and grounded proved a challenge. The only way i could see to easily and reliably RF was via the USB port, and this little lenovo laptop computer already had *alot* coming out of the USB ports.
With that I decided to get a dedicated full-size ham-radio PC. Nothing expensive or new, in fact I was looking for ‘older’ models with a native DB9 Serial interface so USB to Serial issues would no longer be a problem. This HP Elite 8200 met the specification needs for what I would be using the computer for and was a reasonable price/availablity. I could add all the audio inputs and outputs to the native connectors and also use the on-board serial (or so he thought…)
HP Elite ports – native Serial Port and audio on-board
Having migrated PC i went about installing first the apps I know, namely Fl Digi and FL Rig. I have been using these for sometime for WeFax and love getting the images in. The good thing about reducing the QRM, i can visually see it has been reduced, as I will show later.
I did run into some issues with communicating with the PC, the Serial Port settings had to be changed on the PC also, by now I had also discovered i had ordered the wrong cable from RS Electronics, but have a replacement on the way. I went back to using a USB to RS232C interface for now, which after some tweaking worked. I’m sure I’m not the only person who would still setup a IF-232C, so here are the settings I used between my PC and the RS232C.
Screenshot of Windows PC Running Windows 10 and USB Prolific based RS232 connector
Incase its hard to read on the screen, heres the tabulated form
Setting
Value
Bits Per Second
4800
Data Bits
8
Parity
None
Stop Bits
2
Flow Control
Hardware
Advanced
Leave FIFO Buffers at max and on
Table of Settings for the RS232 Port on Windows for Kenwood TS690S and IF232C
In the FL Rig for the Serial port the settings are as follows (Select TS450S as the transceiver) :-
Setting
Value
Baud
4800
2-StopBits
Enabled
PTT via CAT
Enabled
RTS/CTS
Enabled
Retries..Byte intv
Defaults
Init (Click)
Connected
FLRig Settings
Kenwood DSP-100 with the IF-232C
Now I dont mind saying that I’m still learning, so understanding what filter to use when is very much a case of ‘try it and see’, but i will show a comparison between before I started all the QRM clean up and the acculmation of what I have done so far *plus* the use of the DSP-100.
WeFAX – local QRM is quite clear with the ‘banding’ visible across the otherwise clear image
As you can see in the above image, there is alot of QRM in the picture, the ‘banding’ consistant across the image, in this case probably caused by the Ethernet over Power adaptors, is very clear.
Here is a scan today, same antenna, but will all the additonal work to reduce QRM and the DSP in Receive mode filtering.
Reduced QRM, what you do see is from a fan running because its hot today 🙂
When less electical items in the house are running, namely fans, washing machines and the like here is an example image. Again, this is the same antenna, same external line filters/chokes and the DSP and recent QRM work outcome.
The ice-chart from Hamburg
The ice-chart from Hamburg is the equivlant for me as the last row on the eye-test exam. The letters on it are incredbly small and the details/dots equally so. Whilst with a zoom there is some slight distortion (so more to be gained!) there is a total absence of the QRM which was so present in the first WeFax image shown.
I am adding a MFJ-1026 to the mix now (Thank you Nevada radios, you are doing a great job during the lockdown !) and I cannot thank Steve from Xggcomms enough for the assistance he has given me. I asked Steve for some help on how would I go about connecting both the xggcomms and mfj-1026 at the same time, as they need access to the T/R Control line present on the ACC-2 port. Sure enough Steve was good enough to reply on how to do this, by way of opening up the connector and adding a connection to pin 13 and ground (I used pin 12 for ground).
From Page 22 of the TS690S user manual
I had recently performed an inventory of all the wires/cables,etc I had, so it was easy to find the phono socket I required to connect the back of the MFJ-1026 phono socket to the ACC2 DIN plug.
I first tested the connectivity between socket and plug, to ensure it would work correcly before opening up the xggcomms. I am generally unhappy about opening working equipment in that I could break it and make it unoperational, but as Steve had already offered his support should anything go wrong, i bit the bullet and went for it. Needless to say, it wasnt an easy job for me who doesnt do this type of soldering reguarly.
xggcomms intact
removing the flexible case allowed easy access
respect for that soldering
this is going to be interesting..
pin 13 & 12…
there they are…
Examining the DIN socket before modification
I had already pre-tinned and checked the continuity between socket and wire on the phono socket, so was confident that as long as I was careful I would be able to add the necessary wires to the respective pins.
a good start
nice on the earth
crock clip on shielding
pin 13 result
pin 13 checking
phono live pin
another nice result
soldering was a challenge
using a croc-clip helped the measurements
down to 001 with a better fit of testing equipment
ensuring the pins are level and connected
‘live’ socket
testing for no interference, result!
Adding pins 13 and 12
I dont mind saying that upon putting the shielding on and checking before plugging in that i found that the case (which should be grounded/seperate) ended up being ‘shorted’ and no resistance was shown on the voltmeter. Undeterred I undone the case and carefully applied a small piece of masking tape across the top pins ‘tucking’ between pins to give some isolation. I apologize i didnt take a picture of this. This had the required effect and that when the casing and flexible connector were restored, the isolation between pins had been restored.
Having completed the cable, the next step is to install an external auxiliary antenna for the MFJ-1028 to match against. I considered several ideas, as in just using a simple end-fed piece of wire, to a range of ‘small’ antennas from Russia that attracted QRM to be used in this way. In the end I decided to get another DX Commander. Whilst I wont totally multi-band this will all 6 elements (in particular 80m requires alot of space) I can setup the 2nd vertical ‘auxiliary’ about 2~3 meters from the ‘transmit’. With this I should be able to ‘phase out’ both any local QRM as well as distant QRM meaning I should not only be able to get out more cleanly, i should also be able to hear and filter those very feint remote signals that currently sit ‘below’ the noise table.
As ever, I will keep posting with my battle with QRM, which I think I am winning one week at a time.
Having had a webcam available to me for some time since I now use a mac which has an in-built camera, I thought I’d put it to good use.
linux desktop now acts as a fancy router, main desktop for me ia iMac Late 2013 model !
There are a number of really good mast-webcams on the Internet/Youtube, so thought I’d give it a try myself. The webcam is a cheap-er Logitech one as I know that some of these cameras can get very expensive (4K/remote control,etc). Im not 100% this from Argos is an identical one, but its a smilar price/looking and all powered via USB.As I’m not sure of the longevity of the camera given its outside, something on the cheaper end of the webcam market is in order !
there was alot of usb cable to go up, or not as the case maybe !
The mast is approximately 10 meters tall and has my 2m/70cm J-Pole on it. It is well rigged and secured with a heavy duty mast vertical and ground stakes which are very well driven into the ground. I do take it down when the weather is predicted to get quite bad, but i can still reach Poole and of course my DRM hot-spot for chatting on Talk Groups via the Internet.
mast with camera and J Pole – one element is wavign around but after checking all is good on 2m and 70cms
The first challenge is that a regular webcam comes with around a 1 meter cable attached to it. I needed a good quality cable that would introduce as little loss as possible. Here the RS USB 2.0 Active Repeater Cable comes into play. I actually ordered 3 of these and to start with did attach all 3 to make sure the cables are not too tight or pulling, but 1 does the job nicely, and I’m left with two very high quality usb repeating cables for other projects.
For software I used free streaming software provided Open Broadcast System, namely OBS Studio which is available here It was very easy to setup and integrates easily with you-tube.
well rigged mast ensures that it will stay up until i wan it to. The USB cable doesnt interfere or go near coax until the feeder.
I entered in the required Token for streaming from YouTube and sure enough the webcam was on air !
The mast cam – for as long as the camera lasts !
I was really thankful for WY7W for checking the camera out and also sharing his amazing webcam video as well – i have to admit i was just ever so slightly envious of his amazing QTH 🙂
Well I’m hoping the camera holds out, be interesting to see how long it last
— additional 25/5
I’ve since had to remove the webcam due to QRM from the USB Cable. When i find time/have reduce all the other QRM in the shack i’ll re-introduce the camera, for now it sadly has to stay off.
The DX Commander comes with 100m of very good wire, which is enough for making the 4 element (40,30,20,17m) vertical and some for radials. Having already bought 50 meters of wire for 80m I was still down on the count for both radials and the ‘all band’ – having complete the ‘all-band’ construction it was now time to sort the radials !
With the orignial wire and radials I had around 28-30 radials, which whilst much better than only 1 and improvement on 15, is still slighty short for 80m and also more radials=higher Db out at other wave lengths.
So what is the science about radials ? The Calum has a good video to help, and the references are very good, so I’ll put that here first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVG1jevrXaI
Radial videos from Calum
So basically adding radials helps (I did try to find a video of a person fallilng off a boat getting onto a pier, but was getting to distracted…) I took 50 meters of wire (the same type I had use on the verticals) and set about making into 3.5 meter lengths, which some great help from my son Paul which saved my back alot in terms of getting up and measuring and cutting !
pull and cut thanks Paul 🙂
it started as 50m, it became radials
cutting radials
With the cutting done, it was time to return indoors for strip, crimp and solder !
new crimper doing a grand job
solder together, solder the crimp
strip, crimp and solder (*2)
I then returned outdoors to install the addtional elements. I doubled up on one existing element, but had a pretty decent fan of 3.5m wire elements going on now.
a nice spread
view from the base
keeping it tidy
gaps to fill
now with added elements
adding elements
I’d need to an exact recount (will do so later) but I think I now have enough radials to accomodate the 80m vertical.
With having added the radials it was time to test ! For this I use FT8 as it has a great map and includes a signal report when a QSO is complete.
Reaching Kuwait on 17m
I was now reaching Kuwait on 17M and even better was that I could see the call sign in my WSJTX screen – i had to give it a try ! And sure enough within a few minutes (this guy was was getting alot of QSO’s in) I had made contact !
Contact with 9K2OW in Kuwait – a staggering 2,888 miles on 10 Watts of power !
So i think i could continue to add more radials, but for now I’m happy with how the DX Commander is performing and the radials are performing their function. I will investigate more ‘science’ based ways of radial performance, but his helps for now !
So its been a bank holiday here in the UK and its allowed me to work on quite a few different things (including re-wiring the Mazda Bongo door looms). When I got the DX Commander it came with enough wire for 4 verticals and the radials to support it, but I purchased some more wire from Radio World, namely the Watson Radio Products EQ Equipment Wire which goes for 40 per meter. I used Radio World as I had other bits and bobs coming from them as well, and my word, they are so QUICK to deliver (UPS Everything !).
I checked from the list what additonal wires I would need to make up., in this case only the 10m and 12m. Having learned from trying to measure the wire indoors I now measure all my wire outside. I have 3 meter workmans metal tape which so far has done me brilliantly in getting accurate measurements.
So the first part was to obviously lower the mast, and then remove the existing wires, Going from 4 to 6 requires adjustment as per DX Commanders docs (pg 2) here.
I also reprinted all new labels, removing the existing ones. One thing I didnt do orginally was to put labels on the bottom plate, so this time I would ! First I organized the cables so they was easy to pick up add, not having things on the floor and in a mess really adds to health and saftey when doing this kind of work.
wires in respective order of frequency (10,12,17,20,40,80 – the long green monster!)
With the mast lowered I followed the instructions and relocated the SO239 feed wire and the 80m connection
movement of feed wire and labelling up
What really helps is the DX Commander stickers. On my spreaders i do them so that they should be aligned when looking down the mast, this gives me a good point of reference.
To start with I just feed the 80m wire up to where it would be for 30m and taped it down. I then worked around the mast feeder positions adding labels as I worked in each new wire.
its not just a great little radio
its a box for all the stickers!
keeping the stickers safe
Now the DX Commander/Calum does say that the clips used on the paracord are hard to undo once set, as I found. Having to try and extract one, manage to break a clip, and I had no spares. So, i thought, well superglue it is then ! With using the YOCTOSUN Hands Free Magnifier, i was able to get it to glue pretty much back on. I was then with the existing cut paracorde and elastic cable to add the other elements which required some vertical tensile strength.
repaired clip holding out
loopbacks doing their job
some additonal ‘temp’ fixes
12m, tied directly to the lower guide/spreader
I continued to add all the elements and was happy with the tension and how tidy they are. I also took some time to put some tape around the clips where sometimes the wind will blow and wires get caught in the juberliee clips. As I’m not taking the mast down and collapsing, this wont effect me in the short-term.
nicely labeled plate
tidy going up
some ‘fettling’ with tape for now
wires in place
With assistance from my son, we got the mast vertical and I could start adding the existing radials I have. I add the radials in a N/E/S/W layout starting from the feed point, and adding where i have capacity. I also done a ground-visual of the 2m/70cm with my iphone (10x max zoom) and could see it was in good shape up there after I had raised it on Friday.
approx 28-30 radials
spreading them out i go N/E/S/W, then fill the gaps
A quick visual on 2m/70cm antenna
radials and a visual of the 2m/70cm mast
Testing and Results
So the next step would be to test. For this i used the two main data modes I currently use, being FT8 and WSPR. I used WSJTX v2.1.2 and finding a ‘gap’ to press the ‘tune’ button. This would give me repeatable results. I am using the TS-690S internal SWR reading and a 2nd hand HF SWR Transceiver (YW-3) for the external readings.
Band
SWR Transceiver
SWR Meter
Notes
10
1.1
1.3
12
2.2
80
17
1.4
1.6
20
OFFSCALE
2.5
RX is very clear 5/9
40
2.2
1.1
80
2.1
1
160
OFFSCALE
To be expected
30
OFFSCALE
80m wire ?
15
1.6
3
Does the VV-3 work at this frequency ?
12
2.1
3
FT8 Testings with new elements on 10+12m and resonant frequencies/others in WSJTx
Band
SWR Transceiver
SWR Meter
Notes
10
1
1.2
5 Watts is the min setting on the transmit
12
2
2.5
17
1.3
1.3
20
OFFSCALE
40
2.9
1.1
80
1.5
1.1
160
N/A
30
N/A
15
1.4
1.5
12
2
2.1
I am really impressed with the S.W.R. on all the bands, whilst 20M gave a high reading, i suspect that the curve on this band is quite specific. Reception is very strong, so the wire is doing its job in selecting the fequency nicely.
Whilst I wasnt expecting 160m and 30m to be available, for thorughness and future recording, added them (should of done 6m in hindsight). I was happy to see 15m and 12m resonating nicely with low S.W.Rs on of 1.6 and 2.1 respectively.
I will upload a gallery as there is so much evidiential data to show,so browse thru at your lesuire.
This is where I miss being a amateur radio club, asking advice of seasoned operators. Thankfully I have my long-time IRC and expat friend PA2TG to call on assistance. I asked about eliminating QRM on HF as I was looking at the many different options available, and varying costs.
After reading my email, PA2TG suggested the BHI Dual-In-Line unit for me, which I ordered from RadioWorld who were incredbly prompt with next day delivery! Whilst I wont do a full review yet, here is the unboxing of what looks to be a very worthy addition to the shack !
BHI Dual In Line Unboxing
I also take my responsiblity of being a Amateur Radio Operator seriously, as much as its a ‘hobby’ it is very well taught module of ‘Saftey’ in even the Foundation. Some may laugh at ‘wiring a plug’, whilst I found the difference in fuses and grid types very interesting ! One thing I do take seriously, and check my antennas every single day. One ‘benefit’ of the lock down is that my antennas are staying up longer, and the guying/mounts are amazing, but today I found that one had completely come off ! Under observation I quickly repaired the guy rope and restored the tension to the mast.
Saftey inspection found the pin had completely come out the ground stake, quickly fixed and tension/support restored.
I have been doing other things in the shack, but will right a summary rather than lots of little postings.
So the weather was pretty fair today, no rain, light breeze. Having completed the cable the previous evening it was time to attach it !
40ft up, 2m Jpole with the Radioorld Guy kit used to keep it firmly to the ground with the heavyweight mast and mast support.
First, I fed the cable from in the ‘shack’ outside, brought the cable up the small step ladder, and lowered the mast. I then connected the PL259 into the moonraker 2m/70cm jpole. I returned inside and before attaching to the RT90, done a SWR check. The SWR had gone up to 3.0-4.0 ! Not the result i wanted, so i went back out and took both ends of the cable with me.
the mast is in this very strong base and held in with heavy duty tent pegs. There are links for chains available, but its secure as is.
Backup the stairs and with the base back down, I started measuring and checking the mast the connector. I found that that there was just a bit of solder on the tip that wasnt allowing the plug to fit snug. A quick file with a very small round file made the PL259 fit nice, but better than that, i changed ends, and measured outside first. In the bright sun it was hard to read the meter, but was getting back 1.6 – 1.7, not brilliant, but thought that was ok and good enough from transmitting. I also noted that with the extra length, some cable was on the ground, and that may effect the SWR reading from my nanoNVA.
SWR on 70cm is a little high, but still ok for operation – I dont have a ‘favourite’ repeater on 70cm, mostly there for UHF/VHF coverage in one unit.
I then made sure all the mast-stakes where still very much in the ground, these are huge, see https://www.radioworld.co.uk/complete-guy-kit-light-weight. I put them in the ground with a club hammer – for sure those stakes are not going to move, and the guy-rope is very well made, with metal hook attachements each end.
TIme to push a 40ft mast up ! I dont mind saying it was hard work – but then i am not in the best fitness at the moment !
S.W.R. on 2M on the frequenys used for the repeaters and simplex channels is <1.5 – a very good result
With the mast up, i returned indoors and took some SWR readings – on 2m i was getting good results, so i put it on the transceiver. I was now getting Southampton, Dorchester and Blandford as clear as bell on repeater tests – the effort was worth it for such a clear signal.
I done a test on the local Poole repeater and was glad to hear a well known specalist on who gave me a good signal report, so was very happy with that !
I’ve got more reviews to write on the mast and RT90 this week, but will try to get them out as its largely setup in terms of UHF/VHF frequencys and the antenna/mast configuration.
Well hello, maybe your reading my blog on amateur radio – I had a very nice weekend off and relaxing/downtime getting things done, but with that there was ALOT be done with regard to Amateur Radio !
Where do I start… well, lets first say thanks to my good friend and fellow radio amateur Trevor (PA2TG) who has been absolutely amazing in offering me advice on what I’m about to talk about ! So here we go !
40ft Moonraker mast with 2 Meter JPole
So I have got (two) new masts, willl talk about the other in another posting one day, but lets focus on the the fibreglass 40ft one for now.
Despite Covid, nature is still making some lovely flowers… time to go home after walking the dog, finish work and make a cable
I took some careful time rigging, i used the lightweight rigging but I really didnt want to start with. This looked good, and I got the mast upto full height. The problem then become apparant that my coax was now too short ! At 30m in length, at the time that seemed long enough as i was using my buddipole then and the coax was purely for experimental purposes.
Stripped of the sheath
The 40ft mast, is amazing, i will give it its own posting, in this post I want to concentrate on the coax I made for the mast as I’ve got some great advice, with more understanding about coax and loss that I could of ever asked for thanks to Trevor. I will point out that I ordered and received the coax a while ago, before speaking to Trevor, but I now know what to order next time, and it will make me appreciate what I have and how much power is being lost in the coax itself (you would think not much, but suprsingly, even the top quality coax, has some loss!)
watching the core slowly emerge.. the thread on this plug is very fine
first some electical tape, then heatshrink, looking rather good if I dont say so myself !
So I set about making my cable with the coax, I found this video most useful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjO5ERU6a78 and following it found that I had created an awsome cable. Now if I was honest, that would be the end of it, but I have to admit I made rather hilarious mistake… In the video he does a continuity test, to ensure the cable is shielded and the center pin will deliver the RF power/energy.. I thought, well, why not strip the other end and check from both ends ! Great idea M7ALU ! So I stripped the other end.. measured continuity, come on 0… 1… a solid 1, not any reduction.. traces cable.. i’ve stripped the cable from the reel… So, when stripping cable, make sure you get the right one.
Putting a SO239 on to make sure it will fit on the mast / jpole connector ok
In the end I stripped. sheathed and plugged my cable in with loads of testing for continiuity, because I dont want to get it 40ft+ up and find its not working. Results soon.
a completed cable, both ends done, 0.0 on the power meter measuring continuity
Tomorrow she goes up, lets hope 1) I got the length right 2) it keeps working 3) The cable is good enough spec for me on 2m/70cm and 10 Watts of power.. We shall see !
I set about setting up my Buddipole in a 40M (7Mhz) configuration. For this i added 2 new extended whip arms to my collection of Buddipole parts. The majority of my Buddipole parts come from Radioworld, who I really dont mind promoting in my blog as they are very quick on delivery.
To start with I used the “Buddipole in the field’ setup recommendations, which helped get the physical setup. Of what to plug in where, as I’m still learning it really helps having a printed A4 page with the diagrams on, and I stuff that in my pocket or my external table as I work along.
It took me about 15~20 minutes to get the pole and the whips setup at ground level. The whips are really long at 9ft which is what you’ll need for 40M and they must be fully extended. Take your time pulling them out from the tips and firmly, but gently extending them.
aobe roof level and secure
Now I dont mind saying I have already lost two smaller (5ft) whips with messing up guying and the Buddipole nearly falling on me, so if you are reading this, please, please take your time with guying/rigging your buddipole up. Mine moves around my backgarden, so i dont have a static mount point, I could use Pythagorus equations to work out the technical lenght, but I find that rasing the antenna, checking the tensions and taking it back down and then up as required is the safest. When I’m indoors and it starts getting windy, i want to know that its not going to fall !
Anyhow after guying and getting to an ok height (above the roof line) I started on tuning the S.W.R. inital results were a little disappointing, as I expected some loss on rising, but it got a bit high. So I brought the dipole down again and spent more time on the coils.
hmm, not bad, but not what i was after
Getting the coils setup was a real exercise in patience – having not done this for a specific frequency before, it took a few good attempts of going from left to right coil to get the nice curve I got below.
The S.W.R. on the lower frequencies is a bit high, but as I’m not going to be attempting morse (yet), thats not a concern to me.
Improved SWR on 40m
I was quick to take some photos of the coils to log where I had put them, maybe next time i can get a better improvement, but this is where I had them this time.
Black coil – almost right to the very end (versatee to the right, whip to the left in this pic)Whip to the left, versatee to the right in this pic.
I got in and even tho it was getting later and the sun going down had a great time tuning in and listening on 40m. It was very busy on the voice frequencys and finding a gap to transmit and knowing I was ‘spilling’ over to others was a bit nerve racking.
I did try putting a CQ out, but no response, but the SWR reading on the radio was very good, even tho i am only using 10W.
So next time I will show more about the CAT and digital interface I now have, but thats another post 🙂
