Taking the plunge into Ham Radio

[randy]

That looks like it will get the job done. Don't have any experience with that model, but you certainly have a choice as to what types of antenna feed line you can use as well as being to manually tweak it if needed. eHam review have a good rating (4.4/5). Being rated up to 300W it should handle digital duty cycles if you decide to go down that road. I have a manual model that's performed well for about 20 years (need to dig it out and play with it some on the TS-820 for SSB)

While MFJ has a reputation for spotty customer service, I recently dealt with Cushcraft (bought by MFJ some years ago) for a replacement Feed Line assembly for my 2M/440 Beam and had no problems. Quick and efficient.

And it's always time for a better antenna.

[SoupOrMan]

Well, my dipoles have no common-mode chokes or baluns and they're made from two strands of 24-gauge speaker wire attached to an SO-239. I also will need more coax so I can run the antennas outside. I'm going to try hiding any new ones I get under the eaves of the house. I don't live in an HOA, but I also want to draw very little attention to operating a radio in my house. I like being subtle.

[randy]

Yeah, I don't do subtle very well:

Antennas 2021.jpg

[randy]

My first antenna was a 15M dipole made from television twinlead that was attached to 50 Ohm coax for feed line.

The twinlead was clear, and the coax was white so the landlord wouldn't notice it running from the along the peak of the front roof to my bedroom window on the second floor. Had to run 15M at the time as 1) I was a Novice and limited in available bands, and 2) 15m was the band I had transmit crystals to use with my HW-16.

Depending on the configuration of your house, you might look into making a horizontal loop around the perimeter of the building along the eaves.

I'm thinking of a Horizontal loop around my backyard to improve my performance on 30-80M, and maybe even get onto 160.

[randy]

Christmas came early for me. Had some unexpected end of year money, and since my IC-706MKIIG is the shop with no ETIC, I picked up an Icom IC-7300. (No pics due the "Board Attachment Quota Has Been Reached" message) along with an LDG AT200Pro II autotuner.

Radio: https://www.icomamerica.com/en/products ... fault.aspx

Tuner: https://ldgelectronics.com/index.php/pr ... -200proii/

When I confirmed the money was there on Tuesday, called the local Candy Store, but they were out of stock until February. Checked online with DX Engineering and they showed in stock, same price, free shipping. Called them to confirm it around 11AM Tue, Arrived around 1500 on Wed. I prefer dealing with local, but if they don't have it, these guys will be my next call. Recommended.

Within a couple of hours of being visited by the BTOH, I made an SSB contact with an aeronautical mobile at 40K Ft passing near Cuba enroute to Florida.

Getting it working with the computer has been an adventure, but I'm getting there. South Africa on 30M FT8 last night and 20M tonight along with several Winlink connections means that have the digital modes working, if not optimized. And only one cable to connect to the PC.

[SoupOrMan]

Those 7300s are pretty, aren't they?

There's a VHF-UHF event coming up for all of January, Winterheat. It looks like fun. The details are over at hamactive.com

As for antennas, I picked up 50 feet of RG-8X with PL-259 connectors at the ends. I hope to have an antenna hung outside of the house by the end of January, even if it's just hanging one of my homemade dipoles under the eaves of the house.

[randy]

I'm looking at gearing up for the Ohio ARES VHF+ Simplex Contest next week. https://ohsimplex.org/

I didn't do too bad last year, with no real 6M antenna and my 2/440 beam stuck pointing North. I hope to do more this year with a functional rotor, and an actual 6M beam in the air (the 6M elements of my Hexbeam).

[SoupOrMan]

Winterheat is going well so far. This is a great beginner's event, really easy to handle pileups so far.

[randy]

Cool.

I doubled my points in the Ohio Simplex Contest from last year, even though there seemed to be fewer participants in the area, A lot of that was more 6M contacts (6M was worth 5 points per contact vs 1 point for the 2M/440) and a couple more counties, which acted as a multiplier.

[SoupOrMan]

Okay, I have a cunning plan for an antenna. I'm thinking about buying one of the EMCOMM II antennas from Chameleon. I can route my feedline through a vent in the attic to the outside. I can hang the transformer from the eaves of the roof, about 18 feet up. From there I hope to toss the other end of the antenna into a neighbor's tree (after talking with the neighbor, naturally) and that can probably put it up to 50 to 60 feet at the highest. I'll have to add a counterpoise most likely and string it under the gutters to the nearest available ground that isn't covered in concrete. This is the best compromise between ease of setup and trying to mount a permanent antenna tripod on top of my house. I'd thought of adding a tower, but there's other problems, not the least of which is above-ground power & utility cables cutting across my back yard's airspace.