Category: antennas
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Finishing touches to the minimalist EFRW
Last weekend, when I put the little EFRW together, I searched the radio room for the assorted heatshrink tubing collection and came up with nothing. I’m sure it will turn up one of these days … Twelve dollars and three days later, I had a new box of clear, glue-lined tubing, and I was ready…
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A minimalist EFRW antenna for the KH1
I no longer recall the chain of URLs that led me there, but I read this article by Thomas Witherspoon over at qrper.com maybe ten days ago, and that was what got me started on this project. The crucial part of the article that caught my eye (and imagination) was this: “My friend Adam (K6ARK)…
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Antenna notes
So it has been about a week (or more?) since I dried out all the Buddipole components (I hope, lol), which is to say about a week that the testing and inspection has been … pending. I started this morning by identifying the 3 calibration plugs for the NanoVNA (this turned out to be easy…
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Nano VNA
Caught a real bargain on Amazon, a NanoVNA-H for about $40 after the $10-off coupon, even including the state sales tax. I’ve been thinking about acquiring one for quite a while … now I’m very happy that I didn’t buy the much older (and much more expensive!) one that I saw at a hamfest last…
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Wildcat Mountain, again
I was feeling kind of “on a roll” this morning, after two successful activations. When I set out today, I had a couple of options; do some POTA, or run errands. Even as I left home I was not certain which way to go, but I brought the radio bag just in case. It was…
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Radio surgery, part 3
Xiegu X6100 battery replacement, and a sampler of other stuff going on … First, the battery stuff: There’s a computer occupying my electronics bench right now, I need to get that out of the way so I can finish this battery change job. Watch for the next post! Activating US-12077 again It’s always a good…
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Cutting a dipole for the (tr)uSDX
I have been working up a field kit for the (tr)uSDX for a while, and one remaining part of the effort is preparing a couple of small wire antennas tailored to provide low SWR to protect the rather delicate output transistors. Today I am making one of my favorites; the BNC-to-binding-post-adapter dipole. I set up…
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Antenna repair
Yesterday in the late afternoon I went up to Buckhorn State Park to try an activation. When I started to set up the antenna I saw this: When I pulled the top section all the way out followed by the second section it came apart in my hand. Field repairs will be necessary! I’m guessing…
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A springlike afternoon at Wildcat Mountain
Even though it was late in the day, it was just too nice a day to let the opportunity to play radio slip away! I thought a lot about where to go: new park? different park? but in the end, I went with nearby and familiar. Other than that, everything went well! The X6100 was…
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Spring(ish) at Buckhorn State Park
I don’t suppose that it’s surprising that Wisconsin should have a couple of weeks of deep-freeze weather in the middle of February; just inconvenient. Yesterday was warmish, the forecast predicted more and better for today; it might be Radio Weather! A few minutes before 7 I was at the local Kwik Trip filling up multiple…
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A wintry activation of US-1480
It was overcast, seventeen degrees, and flurrying gently when I rolled out of the driveway en-route to Wildcat Mountain State Park, and the sun was about to get above the horizon as I was driving along the county highway. As I promptly realized when I got to the park it was just too cold for…
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An October retrospective, and a November omnibus
Soup weather It drizzled all morning, but as the temperature dropped it has turned into snow. Big, healthy flakes, coming down ever heavier. My most urgent project at the moment is outdoors, so it’s a chance to catch up with the blog, while enjoying a bowl of sausage-and-lentil soup. Lots of little items, in no…