Antenna Maintenance

This time of the year here in the U.K certainly puts any outdoor antenna systems under a lot of strain from windy, wet, winter weather.

I decided to do some routine maintenance on my antennas. The first job was carried out on the reasonably recently erected delta loop cut for 20meters.

I took the loop down from the horizontal configuration, which also meant that the mast it was supported by which was also the fixing for my vhf vertical also had to come down.

This allowed access to both antennas, so I began with the loop by shortening the overall length of the loop, which involved cutting 500mm of each length. The shape being triangular meant removing a total of 1500mm (1.5 meters) of wire and then re measuring each side of the loop to ensure that it was still divided into 3 equal sides. Each side now measuring 6.2 meters in length, giving a total wire length of 18.6 meters.

Previously the swr had been at 5.0 on 14.200, the swr with the adjustment was now 2.0 a much more resonant length for this part of the band.
The antenna worked well before in the horizontal position however it did bring in a high noise level. So with this in mind and the adjustments of the length completed, I decided to erect it this time as vertically as the nearby tree that was to be used for support would allow me. I was fortunate to be able to configure the loop vertical, with a slight slope towards the bottom.

To my amazement once I switched the HF rig on (Yaesu FT-767 GX) the previous noise level was non existent and I was able to hear radio 5 audio with 0 signals coming through from DX stations. I commenced some tests and tuned the loop down to 1.0 swr reading using the auto antenna tuner (ATU) that was onboard the 767. The first station I worked was N2AO followed by WX3B, both were good signals in and out with the loop and when I switched to the vertical hustler the noise level was back and the signals were slightly down.

The loop was much better and it was also working very well on 17 meters as well. After a few days in test I am still getting much better results from the loop, however (and thankfully after spending money on the commercial hustler antenna) the vertical occasionally received bigger signal readings from some directions. The loop has definitely been the favourite for all round receive due to the nice sound of audio signals and the distinctive lack of noisy QRN that it doesn’t bring in. I am very happy with the home made loop antennas overall performance.

The small homebrew vhf vertical also got some attention when the mast was down, I cleaned the connections as well as the whip. I also checked over and repositioned the 3 ground plane radials that are fixed to the antenna's base. This had also surprised me once I began some tests, as local signals had become slightly stronger by a couple of S-points.

I made some contacts on 2meters and managed to get a 5/8 report from G1KDU who is approximately 200 miles south of my QTH. The Band has been in good shape with few good openings quite regularly recently, so a bit of maintenance on the antenna again paid off. I went on to 70cms and managed SSB contacts with a couple of reasonably distant located G-stations, that were operating during a contest. Once again I was quite pleased with the simple antenna's performance.

I guess it is quite advantageous to carry out regular maintenance on your antenna to help maintain good performance, especially where they are exposed to the elements like mine.

73 have a good weekend. de 2E0HTS

PSK Pleasure on 40 Meters

The Bands have been very unpredictable lately with frequent openings around late afternoon on HF. I was lucky enough to tune around 20m whilst driving home from work when I came across 9Y4W(Trinidad & Tobago). He was booming in 5/9, with a big pile up. I gave a couple of calls whilst on the move, and made the contact from the mobile. This was quite surprising in the middle of a pile up with only a simple mobile antenna. Later on during the weekend I worked LW9EOC(Argentina) on 15M using the FT-767, and Hustler Vertical from the QTH.

The past few days have been difficult conditions during the evening time due to excessive QRN that I seem to be suffering from every now again. The noise levels have been unusually high, probably down to the extreme wet winter weather we have been getting up here in the North Pennines. It’s been gale force at times with frequent weather warning bulletins given out. The wind has visited my QTH quite a few times recently as well as some snow and more rain. The last couple of days have been dryer with sunshine and temperatures of 6c. Hopefully things will settle down back to zero noise levels again and I will be able to hear the more distant weaker signals hopefully working a few of them.

With conditions been up and down and reoccurring high QRN, I decided to operate some PSK31. So I set my self up on 40m again on the FT-767, but this time using the G5RV. There were many stations showing on the waterfall so it wasn’t long before I made some contacts. I had some great QSOs into Europe and had the good fortune to work KP4DS(Puerto Rico) on 40M PSK31 running 35 watts. Today I received his eQSL which adds a new confirmed Country to my log. Thanks Luis KP4DS.

Here is Luis KP4DS eQSL to Me

New DX Contact 0n 12 Meters

Today I managed a nice QSO with Tom ZD7X who is located at St. Helena which is quite a distance away from my location. I managed to work Tom ZD7X with a 5/9 report operating my FT-767GX with my home brew 20m delta loop assisted with the MFJ-969 to tune the antenna with 50 watts on 12 meters. 12M is rarely open and I have only had a few QSOs on this band so I guess the new Cycle has begun at last!
Good DX de 2E0HTS 73

Latest Information On Solar Cycle 24

This information is courtesy of QRZ.Com, I thought Id share it with everyone especially those who might of missed it! QRZ.Com for those of you that don't know it is well worth a look.

QRZ.Com

SOHO: the new solar cycle starts with a ‘bang’

The European Space Agency (ESA) reports that the SOHO solar observation spacecraft witnessed the start of the new solar cycle.

The appearance of a very special solar spot on the sun surface a few days ago, signalled to scientists around the world that a new solar cycle had begun. This solar spot also produced two solar blasts.

Each solar cycle lasts an average of 11.1 years. The new solar cycle, called ‘Cycle 24’, started on 4 January this year, when SOHO observed an event scientists have been anticipating for about a year.

A fairly small and, at first sight, inconspicuous sunspot on the Sun’s northern hemisphere showed a reversed magnetic polarity compared to sunspots of previous years. A sunspot is an area of highly organised magnetic activity on the
surface of the Sun. This sunspot convinced scientists that a new solar cycle had begun. Later that day, this finding was made official when the sunspot was catalogued by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

SOHO was not only first in spotting this harbinger of the new solar cycle, it also observed two associated ‘EIT waves’, blast waves that spread out from active regions on the Sun like ripples from a pebble dropped into water. The new cycle started with a ‘bang’!

This is just the beginning, and scientists are now eagerly awaiting the activity to follow. Solar Cycle 24 is expected to build gradually, with the number of sunspots and solar storms reaching a maximum by 2011 or 2012, although intense solar activity can occur at any time.

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) celebrated the twelfth anniversary of its launch on 2 December 2007. The satellite has witnessed the Sun change through almost a complete solar cycle, from quiet to stormy, and back.

SOHO is a project of international collaboration between ESA and NASA.

A New Year Brings Hopefull Radio Propagation

Happy New Year to all!

The final few weeks of 2007 did not seem to bring any good propagation making DX openings few and far between. I was fortunate to work just one distant station during the festive season on the 27th of December, and using eQSL.cc I sent and gratefully received an eQSL card confirming QSO with ZP5MAL (Juan from Paraguay). This QSO was on the Yaesu FT-767GX with the hustler 6BTV operating on 20M exchanging 5/3 reports.

The Ft-767GX has also been working well for me on 7.038 mhz with the aid of my P.C and nomic rig blaster as I have had many successful QSOs using winPSK31se digital mode. The 40m band has been fairly flat for phone contacts just like 80m and 20m for most of the time.

Most of my radio talk time has been taking place on 2m running the FT-847 & FT-857. A distinctive increase of activity has been happening on 2m lately which has been welcomed locally. This is probably down to the many new recently licenced operators that have come into the hobby over the last month. Another influencing factor is the poor HF band conditions after the sun has gone down which is about 15.45 utc over here. This and of course the festive season has had a lively effect on 2m which has been very enjoyable. Welcome to all new Hams hope to work you all!

The picture above shows information on the high and lows of the solar cycle.
which for us radio hams that like to work DX, is a very important issue, thankfully 2007 was at the bottom of the solar cycle and was also the start of the upward sweep. Hopefully solar activity will increase and the band conditions will improve during this new year.

I have been fortunate to have been around long enough to have experienced good propagation. This year should bring some new Countries, prefixes and QSL cards to many stations and lets face it conditions can only improve as we have past the worst of the bands poor conditions in the last cycle! I sure am looking forward to hearing some big signals.

73 and good DX. de 2E0HTS Simon, Yorkshire, North England.

Congratulations to Chris and Welcome to Amateur Radio

Chris on the Right of the picture with his pass certificate who is a fellow work colleague at Park Lane College Keighley.

Chris is a lecturer in Electrical Installation and has been spending lunch times and the odd couple of spare hours with Louise and myself over the last two months.

Louise is a registered Examination officer for the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB). I am RSGB registered as a Foundation Licence instructor.

Chris has been undergoing Foundation Licence training comprising of practical and theory lessons as well as self study.

On Friday the 15th of December Chris sat the Foundation Licence Exam successfully gaining a Pass result. Chris has now applied for his Licence and will be operating his Yaesu ft-847 in the next few days. I am looking forward to working him on some of the bands.

Well Done Chris!


(Non Amateurs)
If you are thinking about becoming a Licenced radio ham, there should be a local club or School/College that might be able to help. More info on this at RSGB Or ARRL or if you are in other Countries Google will tell you which radio organisation is for you. Good Luck.

Happy Christmas

Seasons Greetings to all from our Dog Dudley who is practicing his Reindeer pose,
He is ready to help Santa sniff out some chimneys

I might get him to try some Antenna Antlers next!.

Have a Happy Christmas from Louise (M3TLL) and Simon (2E0HTS)

2E0HTS MOBILE IN CUMBRIA

This week was my YL Louise's birthday, I had arranged a short break in Cumbria which we thoroughly enjoyed.

We were based at Barrow-In-Furness in the South West of Cumbria and we found the town very interesting with all of its engineering history, Submarines and historic Port.

The locals were very friendly and there were some interesting Islands that we visited where I got to make one or two nice QSOs.

Here is a video of some of the radio contacts I managed to make during our stay in Cumbria and the Lake District. I decided to do this as some of you guys have been asking me to make some new Youtube videos, so thanks for all the emails and I hope this is OK!

Regards and 73 Simon 2E0HTS

CQ100

CQ100 is a program for use exclusively by licenced radio amateurs and is a simple and effective

way to keep in touch with hams all over the globe 24 hours a day without any propagation.

If you are interested you can download a 3 month free trial if you follow this link

http://qsonet.com/programs.html

I have already heard many CQ calls through the CQ100 virtual radio and I will be listening out

for you all, and monitoring all the other bands at the same time on my real rigs!

73 C u agn

Simon

Homebrew 40/80 Trap Dipole Design

This Antenna design was one that I used about 4 years ago, it worked exceptionally well on 80m and 40m. The size of the antenna makes a Half wave length on 80 meters, and with the traps a half wave on 40m with a SWR (standing wave ratio) of 1:1-1.5 across both bands.

It worked well also on 20m with the use of an A.T.U (antenna tuning unit).

I made my version of this antenna using 3mm multi strand copper cable which I left covered by the PVC insulation.

The traps can either be home brewed using some 40mm diameter plastic drain pipe and winding wire around the pipe approximately 10 turns, then connected in line after the 10 metre lengths. Or the alternative is to purchase some commercially made 7.1 MHz traps, and fit them in line the same way.

The antenna can be fed with 50 ohm coax with a home brew balan or again a commercially purchased balan.

The wire lengths of the dipole are 2x 10 metres and 2x 6.7 metres as shown on the diagram above.

This antenna can be mounted quite low to the ground if you wish to produce a high angle of radiated signal which is good for distances of 0-1500 km.

For DX work a lower angle of radiated signal can be obtained by mounting the antenna 10 metres or more above the ground. The higher the better!

If you get chance to try this simple design, I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Good luck and hope to hear you on the bands.

de 2E0HTS 73

Heil Goldline Studio Mic

Greetings to all, I recently acquired the Heil mic and had planned to use it in the mobile with the ft-100, but after trying it out I decided to stick with the original fist mic from Yaesu. The Goldline from Heil had struggled to pick up my voice from the dashboard mounting bracket, and with the whole idea of making mobile operations more inconspicuous by not drawing attention to myself, fitting a hands free mic seemed to be out of the window. I was having to shout that loud to hit the alc level, most peoples heads were turning and wondering what I was shouting at. So back to basics and the fist mic wins!

I then decided to try the Heil microphone in the shack on the ft-767. This was the beginning of a potentially beautiful relationship as the rig and mic compatibility seemed good with some good reports from experienced G-Stations on 80 meters. I have been using the microphone for the last couple of days and I am finding it OK with the wired PTT switch in my hand and ready to engage. The switch reminds me of a missile detonator, so you can imagine the pressure every time I transmit. h.i.

I am impressed so far with the new microphone so I decided to make a miniature tower style mic stand to mount the Heil Goldline. You can see the finished installation on the picture, I hope to make some more noise soon. 73 good DX

Q-CODES

I have recently had the pleasure of assisting a fellow member of Staff at work by helping him train to become a radio amateur. Chris is an electrical lecturer at the college where we both work, I was extremely happy when Chris asked me to help him get into the hobby and with his electrical/electronic knowledge it will be fairly simple to pass the foundation examination and obtain the licence which will allow him to operate his recently purchased yaesu ft-847.
Good luck with the exam Chris and welcome to the world of Ham radio.

Chris asked me about Q-codes so I decided to post the list of Q-codes which are used by radio amateurs around the world. The Q-codes were originally invented for use with telegraphy and then Morse code allowing messages to be transmitted quickly without having to rattle out long and difficult sentences. These days they are still used as a way of sending voice messages as well as Morse, whilst communicating with another station. The Q-codes can be very useful especially when two stations in communication with each other may not speak the same language as the Q-codes are a universal language.

QRG Exact frequency
QRI Tone (T in the RST code) UR QRI IS 9
QRK Intelligibility (R in the RST code) UR QRK IS 5
QRL This frequency is busy. Used almost exclusively with Morse code, usually before transmitting on a new frequency
QRM Man-made interference ANOTHER QSO UP 2 kHz CAUSING LOT OF QRM
QRN Natural interference, e.g. static crashes BAND NOISY TODAY LOT OF QRN
QRO Increase power NEED QRO WHEN PROP POOR
QRP decrease power QRP TO 5 W
QRQ Send faster TIME SHORT PSE QRQ
QRR temporarily unavailable/away, please wait WILL BE QRR 30 MIN = THAT STN IS QRR NW
QRRR Distress Distress call recommended by ARRL
QRS Send slower PSE QRS NEW TO CW
QRT Stop sending ENJOYED TALKING 2 U = MUST QRT FER DINNER NW
QRU Have you anything for me? QRU? ABOUT TO QRT
QRV I am ready WL U BE QRV IN UPCOMING CONTEST?
QRX will call you again QRX @ 1500H
QRZ You are being called by ________. QRZ? UR VY WEAK (Only someone who has previously called should reply)
QSA Signal strength UR QSA IS 5
QSB Fading of signal THERE IS QSB ON UR SIG
QSD Your keying is defective QSD CK YR TX
QSK Break-in I CAN HR U DURING MY SIGS PSE QSK
QSL I Acknowledge receipt QSL UR LAST TX = PSE QSL VIA BURO (i.e. please send me a card confirming this contact).
QSM Repeat last message QRM DROWNED UR LAST MSG OUT = PSE QSM
QSN I heard you QSN YESTERDAY ON 7055 kHz
QSO A conversation TNX QSO 73
QSP Relay PSE QSP THIS MSG TO MY FRIEND
QST General call to all stations QST: QRG ALLOCS HV CHGD
QSX I am listening on ... frequency QSX 14200 TO 14210 kHz
QSY Shift to transmit on ... LETS QSY UP 5 kHz
QTA Disregard last message QTA, DID NOT MEAN THAT
QTC Traffic STN WID EMRG QTC PSE GA
QTH Location QTH IS Baildon in Yorkshire U.K
QTR Exact time QTR IS 20.00 utc

Pure Fun playing Ham Radio

Greetings once again, I've been playing radio quite a lot since I repaired the ft-100 /mobile rig, making many successful DX and local QSOs on 40m, 20m and 2m. The next stage of improvement for my mobile station is to fit the heil base mic that I recently acquired from Ron 2E0DOG.
This should be an easier way to operate hands free as well as maintaining top quality audio. I tried a hands free kit from Watson last year but the quality of audio was poor, so I've been using the standard fist mic from Yaesu ever since.
I shall fabricate a bracket to mount the mic in the Toyota at the side of the steering wheel close to the dash. The mic has a separate PTT switch that will fit at the side of the hand break. I am awaiting a mic lead which will convert the round pin plug to the ft-100 mod type plug this should hopefully be arriving soon allowing me to begin operating the new set up.

The other equipment has also been working well, especially the old ft-767gx which I have been running on HF the last fortnight. It was collecting cobwebs after a 2 year rest and I had forgotten how truly great it was to use. The ft-767gx still performs as well as ever with a quality RX sound produced through the matching ext speaker and good audio quality provided through the MD1 desk mic. This rig still seems to work really well and with the new delta loop on 20m I have been having some excellent results and hours of fun.

The home brew Delta loop which is horizontally mounted works exceptional well giving me a new Country to add to my list which was Alaska when I spoke with Joe KL7LF.
The loop regularly brings better reports than the 6BTV and G5RV, I can strongly recommend the design posted previously. I am looking forward to getting the chance to try it out some more during the World Wide CQ contest this coming weekend. This weekend also celebrates meeting my lovely Lady Louise M3TLL which is the best thing that has ever happened. I am a lucky guy!

Last weekend I got to play /portable with my hand held radio whilst taking in the breath taking views of the Yorkshire Dales from the summit of Beamsley Beacon near by to Bolton Abbey in Wharfe Dale North Yorkshire.
I made some 50 mile to 80 mile distance QSO on 2m with 5 watts from the Kenwood th-f7 hand held rig. The little rig lives up to the name of "Handy" proving to work well with the Diamond SRH771 antenna for 145/433 mhz and wide band receive capabilities which I replaced the standard rubber duck with.
During my operations the bands were quite busy for a change and I worked quite a few different Stations on 2m and 70cms during my walk about with Louise and Dudley our Dog.

Radio has been good fun lately and I have met some nice people on the bands and I am looking forward to meeting many more the next time i switch one of my radios on.

Thanks for the visit 73 de 2E0HTS

50th Jamboree On The Air

Today has been a good day for Bradford North scouts, Bradford South scouts, Windhill Shipley scouts and Keighley Scouts who have all been active on the bands with the club station call sign MX0KSC. During the event the scouts got a chance to learn about Morse code, Q-codes, phonetics, International pre-fixes and call signs, as well as speaking world wide on amateur radio, also logging and e-qsl/qsling.

All of the scouts sucessfully completed a range of tasks enabling them to obtain a scouting radio communicator badge. They were all extremely happy with thier achievements.
The JOTA event is running all weekend and as it is celebrating 50 years of activity on Ham radio you can imagine all of the bands are extremely active with this celebration for jota. We spoke with 20 different Stations and all scouts spoke with each operator so if you multiply 40 scouts with 20 QSOs we had a total of 800 exchanges of voice contacts and greetings messages, not bad for 7 hrs of operation.
Thanks to all Stations worked and special thanks for your patience.

All the best of luck to other stations who will be on air all weekend.
73 de 2E0HTS

Full Size Delta Loop for 20M

I came across a simple delta loop design courtesy of dxzone found on the net some time ago and have been planning to give it a go for a while.
This weekend I had a couple of hours spare, so I decided to give it a go using some 2mm multi strand wire cable, a dipole centre and a mixture of 75 ohm and 50 ohm coaxial cable.
The delta loop is supposed to be resonant on 20 meters but I found it to be a little high so at present I am tuning the Loop with my mfj-969 which copes extremely well. The resonant frequency is 13.2 MHz at the moment so the next chance I get, I shall shorten the overall length making sure that each of the three sides are still equal in length, and hopefully adjusting the antenna for maximum performance ATU free for 14.2 MHz.
I believe the miscalculation in the resonant length is probably down to the fact that my wire is covered in the plastic sleeving from the manufacturer which always effects the swr as I have noticed in past experiments with dipoles you always get slight differences with sleeved and bare wire lengths, for accurate resonant results you will benefit by using bare hard drawn copper cable without sleeving. If you are into playing around and adjustments like myself plastic sleeved cable is a superb and cheap way to get the job done.

The basic layout of the 20 Meter Delta loop, each side is 7.71 meters in length with the feed point 3/4 of the way down one side (5.78 m from the top) fed by a quarter wavelength of 75 Ohm cable (3.5m long) which is connected to a 50 Ohm cable coax into the ATU

Despite having to use the ATU at the moment I am getting some great results and signal reports with QSOs being made into Alaska, Canada, Azores, Belarus, Italy and Slovenia.
The information given at dxzone recommends that the Delta Loop should be suspended vertically with the assistance of some tall trees. Unfortunately The trees near to my QTH are not so tall, so I decided to try the Loop in the horizontal position instead and like I said so far so good.

If you are thinking about trying one of these antennas you will not be disappointed and there is more info available at

Homebrew 20 Meter Delta Loop

Good luck and let me know how you get on all comments are appreciated.

I have been comparing the Delta loop to the G5RV and Hustler 6BTV, it's early days but seems to be working well on the 20 meter band. The Delta Loop and 6BTV both terminate at a two position switch which allows me to switch between the two antennas very easily.

73 to all and thanks for visiting Ham Radio, good Dx de 2E0HTS Simon in Yorkshire, North England.