Category: Antennas

2024 RAC Canada Winter Contest

Well the contest is now over and it seems the “Propagation Ghods” were smiling on me (for the most part).

My only goal for this contest was to work across Canada from the East coast VO1 to the West Coast VE7. I was successful on this one.

In addition I had hoped to work the 3 Northern Territories VE8, VY0 and VY1, but I did not hear any of the 3. VY1 was seen on the cluster a couple of times but not when I was around it seems.

So at the end of it (at least till when I gave it up) I managed 66 contacts on 5 amateur bands across Canada. 10m, 15m and 20m were really good. 40m was good and 80m was as expected.

The Rig used was my Yaesu FT991a and the antenna used was my 40m End Fed Half Wave with the 64:1 unun and I was pleased with the results.

Remember that my EFHW is a “Stealth” antenna due to Condo antenna restrictions.

Thanks to RAC for running the contest and especially to those operating the RAC Bonus stations. I managed to get 12 of the RAC Stations on the air including VA3RHQ( RAC HQ station)

See you in 6 months for the RAC Canada Day Contest.

73bob

ATAS 120 Update(d)

UPDATED POST AS OF DECEMBER 3rd:

Digging thru my garage I managed to find a whip of the right diameter. I trimmed it back to the 36 inches needed and all seems ok.

I have sent an email to Yaesu Parts asking about the “Waterproof Cap” and followed it up with a phone call (went to voicemail) and awaiting a reply to either.

However as I don’t plan to operate in the rain…. I can be patient…

____________________

And it works….

It was missing a couple of parts but the McGyver in me allowed the test operation.

Before it spends more time in the Great Outdoors it needs:

Yaesu atas120 “replacement rubber weatherproof waterproof cap” ra0698300

This part protects the top of the antenna by keeping out moisture from entering the antenna….

I also need the Replacement whip for Yaesu ATAS-120, part number RA0084400.

The whip I got with it is too thick (just) so unless I drill it out at the screwdriver end I have to find one with the right diameter before I start to use it past testing. I’ve decided on waiting till I can find a whip that matches the specs rather than try to modify the antenna itself.

The parts are available at Yaesu US and sooner or later I will get around to ordering them.

The weather cap is not needed immediately… and I will be trying to find a suitable (36 inch or so that has a 2mm dia) whip locally along with something that might work for the weather cap.

For the test I used a magmount on the BBQ in my back yard with no radials…. Using the metal lid of the BBQ for the ground. In place of the whip I used 54 inches of insulated wire held vertically by a fishing rod, and I was heard in Sudbury Ontario (just under 270mi) on 40m ssb. The antenna had no issues tuning up between 6m and 40m.

I’m a happy camper and now its just taking my time finding a stronger magmount along with a suitable whip….

This will be the end of this until I can get the required parts here. Hopefully that will happen before my trip to my daughters to look after my “Grandkits” when my daughter and her hubby head south some time in January.

Now on to the next project

73bob

A “new to me” antenna

Yesterday on a local (Ontario) ham swap site I noticed a Kingston area Amateur selling a “Curious” ham mobile antenna.

He was selling an “Untested” Yaesu ATAS- 120 mobile antenna. It was part of an Estate Sale he picked up and untested because he did not have a Yaesu HF Radio that he could test it with. It was being sold “as-is” as it was untested for best offer…

It checks off a couple of boxes for me as it can be used mobile (in my daughters car or in a rental car, truck or van) and it could also be used in a portable situation if the trees were not co operating when I take my FT891 out to the park. It is also compatible with my Yaesu FT991a that I use at home.

Above pics taken from the DX Engineering Website

I sent him an email to find out what he considered an offer that he might look at and he got back to me about a half hour later. It seems that we were on the same idea with it because I quickly said “I’ll take it” in a return email.

The details were worked out and payment sent via E Transfer and he will be dropping it off at my place next time he is coming this way.

If you are not exactly what a Yaesu ATAS-120 is check out the above YouTube video by K8MRD. Mike creates pretty darn good content in my opinion.

All I gotta do now is find me a couple of antenna mounts for it and all will be good.

I will give you an update on this project once the antenna mounts arrive and I get everything working.

73bob

Scanning in YGK Pt1

For those of you not really interested in Scanning…. Sorry…. If this new obsession I have continues after this I will take it over to a new site…

CYGK is the airport code for the Kingston Airport. The term “YGK” normally applies to the Kingston Area.

A few days ago I mentioned that I had been “gifted” a Realistic PRO-2050 scanner. Well although I have had to read (and understand) the “Book of Words” for the more technical (Trunking) stuff… The non-trunking part of things is working quite well.

For those of you were wondering… I am using an Arrow dual band (2m/70cm) GP antenna attached to some of those Green Fiberglass Military poles that every ham has sitting in the garage. The antenna is at 10 feet above the deck counting in the Tripod that everything fits in.

I am using RG58 coax because that’s all I had and I am using a choke balun at the feedpoint of the antenna to catch some stray RF due to proximity to my 2 other transmitting antennas.

I have had success in setting it up and receiving VHF/UHF signals. Nothing earth shattering … but the Air Band is interesting and I am hearing some traffic on the Marine Band along with the VIA Rail and CN Railway VHF comms.

The map shows the Train Station on the left and I live in the Strathcona Park neighborhood

The railway traffic is easy as I live really close to the Train Station in Kingston.

As a side note when monitoring the air band in conjunction with having a flight tracking app on the computer lets you see where the flight is that you are listening to.

I find that Flightradar 24(above screen grab) works quite well for my needs buts that’s just my opinion.

I do have one bank of memories scanning the 6m FM band and the 10m FM band but so far no luck. Its going to be a long shot though especially as my scanner antenna was not designed with 6m and 10m in mind.

The smaller Township Fire Departments are scannable and it can make for interesting listening. I can also receive the Local FD from the surrounding townships.

Still working on getting the “Trunking” side of the scanner working for me tho…

The setup had its first draw back (an aw $h!t moment) It seems where I had my scanner antenna located was causing HF RF to come back into the shack on my FT 991a when transmitting on 40m. On Sunday I only operated on 10-15-20 m and no one said my audio was hot. Come Monday morning on 40m and I have a problem. Quickly disconnected and lowered the scanner antenna and the problem has gone away. I guess it was just the proximity of the HF and Scanner antenna. Oh Well!!! UPDATE–> I lowered the antenna 4 ft, added an RF Choke and moved it about 15 feet away from the HF antenna and all seems well (till the next time at least)

Its not going to replace Amateur Radio but it is interesting to listen in when the Amateur Repeaters are quiet and the HF bands are dead.

73bob

An “Interesting” antenna

First off…

If can read this ….Thank a teacher…

If you can read in “English” then thank a Veteran…

======================

Now for our topic of the day:

This morning while lost in a “YouTube vortex”, I noticed the following video:

*** DISCLAIMER***- I have no monetary interest in the antenna. I just watched a video review of it and find it ” interesting”. Watch the (above) video and draw your own conclusions.

If the rig I was using for Portable (POTA or SOTA) use had 2m capabilities then this would really be a useful tool.

It also could help out with some “Public Service” events to extend the range of your handheld.

I think its a “Solution looking for a problem”. Would be a good addition to any ham radio related portable setup.

I have reached out to the creator and asked for more info and when (if) it arrives I will share that with you.

In the meantime just enjoy the video.

73bob

A “handheld HF Radio” The X5105

I just had to share this….

Mike K8MRD from Ham Radio Tube just posted this video on You Tube and if you own a Xiegu X5105 you gotta give this a try. I will be looking for the the MFJ Antennas he mentioned at any hamfests I get to.

Thanks Mike for sharing this with us….

I suggest you check out Mikes YouTube page for this and other great videos…

73bob

A POTA “ATNO” activation

Once again let me take you back in time where on June 1st and 2nd I had operated the SS Keewatin in the Museum Ships on the air event.

And if you look at the below PIC its quite clear that the Ship is in the dry dock

So now fast forward to today and I get notified that the Kingston Dry Dock is a National Historic Site and had been accepted as a Parks on the Air (POTA) location.

I quickly uploaded my logs for the Museum Event to POTA and now it seems that I was the first activation for the site (All Time New One)

Over the last few years I have hunted a few ATNO locations but in my feeble attempts of activating Parks this will most likely be my first (and only) activation of an ATNO….

So…. Thanks to all the hunters…..

73bob

And a big thanks to VE3FI for bringing it to my attention.

Testing the new(to me) rig

Remember yesterday when I mentioned the latest addition to my POTA setup, the Xiegu 5105 QRP rig….

Well this morning I decided to test it out and see how much work I would have to do with setting the parameters such as mic gain, processor, to make it sound like me… I was also testing out my EARCHI 9:1 unun with a 29.5 foot random wire to see how it would play with the built in AT of the 5105.

I figured I might as well do the testing at a POTA location just in case I was able to turn the test into an activation.

For this I chose Fort Frontenac POTA CA-5303. Its fairly easy to get there via the Kingston Transit system and its also close to downtown and all the amenities I might need. In the North East corner of the picture you will notice some white lines on the ground.

They are actually the walls of what’s left of that part of the Fort. Also the only parts of the Historic Site that is open to the public.

I leaned my MFJ 33 foot mast (supporting the 9:1 and wire in the vertical configuration) up against the tree.

And then ran the COAX over to the remains of the wall and set up my radio there and started operating.

My first contact was on 7.255 with the NCS of the ECARS net. He did hear me and considering I was QRP I was pleased. He did tell me that my audio seemed hot as if I was overdriving things. Lowering my voice seemed to help.

After that I looked at POTA Spots and managed to get W2IDG and VE3FI into the log from their parks and then finished up with the NCS of the MidCars net on 7.258.. All contacts were made on 40m SSB. I tried 20 SSB and was hearing lots of stations including a POTA Activation in VO1 but no luck breaking any of the pileups.

Then I figured it was time to get home and try to re configure the radio to my liking… I turned off the Speech Processor and lowered the Mic Gain from 60 to 40. Over the next few days I will get out again and see what else I have to do to get things sounding right.

Till then

73bob

What was old is new again

People who know me have heard me say that after all these years there are 3 radios I have sold that I actually regret selling. Well now there are only 2 radios that I regret selling…

.

Welcome the Xiegu X5105 back into my portable shack…

.

Between my FT991a and my FT891 there was a bit of a gap. The Yeasu FT891 Portable Station was a bit too heavy for my old bones. I needed something in a lighter backpack to make it easier to carry if I was to choose to activate one of the local POTA Parks here in Kingston.

The above pic shows my old X5105 with the Bandspringer attached

The Xiegu X5105 fills that gap. With the built in battery pack, the built in automatic antenna tuner along with the contest keyer and the built in CW Decoder it makes it a dream portable station.

My antennas are a 40m EFHW made with 28ga wire and a QRP AMAZON 49:1 unun. I also can use a 29foot end fed random wire using a QRP EARCHI 9:1 unun.

I also have the SOTABeams Bandspringer antenna that plugs right into the antenna input and uses the built in tuner to operate between 10m and 60m.

So what’s the other two radios you might ask?

Above is my first QRP setup. FT817, LDG QRP Autotuner.

If I could work a deal for a Yaesu FT817 and a Flex 1500 it would complete the list. However used rigs are pricy and it seems most hams think that radios seem to appreciate with age so like I mentioned above it has to be a good deal for both the seller and myself.

73bob

Testing out a “Newly built” antenna

Last night around 9pm I was browsing Amazon and found the same 64:1 unun that I use with my 40m EFHW. This antenna is my primary antenna for my “Transportable/POTA” setup with my FT891.

I decided that the last one worked so well for me that it was time to see if the 1st one was the real deal or a fluke.

Around noon today I checked my front door and found the Amazon Fairy had magically made the new 64:1 unun appear sometime between 10am (last time I checked for it) and noon.

I had a spare 100 foot roll of Princess Auto 18ga insulated wire in the shack and as a bonus for my home environment is was even green.

I quickly measured out 64 feet and then did the connection things. As with most of Eastern North America it was a rather wet day.

Around 4pm locally the rain stopped and I was able to remove the old wire and install the new antenna, once again using the fir trees on the edge of my yard for camo as not draw attention to the antenna.

The SWR is pretty good especially for a wire hidden in the branches:

6m – 2.5:1, 10m – 1.7:1, 12m- 1.2:2, 15m – 1.6:1

20m – 2.0:1, 40m – 1.3:1, 80m – 3.0:1

The bands are not the best, but signal reports (90w output pwr) were fairly well (S7-S9+) with the stations that I was able to contact.

All in all for what it is…. I’m impressed and the best part is that using the built in auto tuner on my Yaesu FT991a I can easily bring it down to 1:1 on all the bands listed above.

The results are the same on my Yaesu FT891 with the same style of balun and a 64 foot length of quality (Red) Princess Auto 18 ga automotive wire. The only real difference is that as I use the 891 with no tuner I have to be careful on some of the bands.

As the new install gets more use I will let you know if there are any “issues” with its performance.

73bob

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started