WEBVTT 00:00:11.340 --> 00:00:14.199 Thanks for tuning in. Hamtalk Live will be on 00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:32.119 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:34.880 tuning in. Hamtalk Live will be on the air shortly. 00:00:35.179 --> 00:00:53.320 Please stand by. Thanks for tuning in. HamTalk 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:55.740 Live will be on the air shortly. Please stand 00:00:55.740 --> 00:01:01.020 by. This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to 00:01:01.020 --> 00:01:04.379 you by Tower Electronics. For cables, connectors 00:01:04.379 --> 00:01:11.480 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259 00:01:11.480 --> 00:01:15.219 .com and... buy the ham station get your new 00:01:15.219 --> 00:01:21.159 radio or antenna by calling 800 -729 -4373 or 00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:54.310 go to hamstation .com everyone this is ham talk 00:01:54.310 --> 00:01:59.909 live episode number 45 antenna building 101 with 00:01:59.909 --> 00:02:05.930 Emmett Hohensee the third wq8 w0qh recorded live 00:02:05.930 --> 00:02:09.849 on thursday december 29th 2016 i'm your host 00:02:09.849 --> 00:02:13.430 neo rap wb9 vpg thanks for tuning into this episode 00:02:13.430 --> 00:02:17.189 of ham talk live sorry we're a little late my 00:02:17.189 --> 00:02:20.610 guest was talking and he said i could blame him 00:02:20.610 --> 00:02:26.189 so I'll blame Emmett, so. Anyway, tonight we're 00:02:26.189 --> 00:02:31.150 joined by Emmett W0QH and he will be taking your 00:02:31.150 --> 00:02:34.490 questions about antenna building and making antennas 00:02:34.490 --> 00:02:37.469 out of stuff you already have. And we'll take 00:02:37.469 --> 00:02:40.430 your calls live in just a few minutes. I'll let 00:02:40.430 --> 00:02:43.430 you know when to do that. Last week on the show, 00:02:43.449 --> 00:02:47.169 Brian Lynn, KD0HI, I was here to talk about the 00:02:47.169 --> 00:02:50.789 meaning of 75 and the Christian Amateur Radio 00:02:50.789 --> 00:02:54.800 Fellowship. So if you missed out on what 75 means, 00:02:55.199 --> 00:03:00.219 give a listen. It's on HamTalkLive .com in the 00:03:00.219 --> 00:03:04.840 archive. And you can also get that on most podcasting 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:07.580 services like iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play. 00:03:08.219 --> 00:03:11.919 Tune in, SoundCloud, and or even over on YouTube. 00:03:12.500 --> 00:03:15.080 So get your antenna questions ready to go. After 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:17.879 the interview, you can call us on Skype. The 00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:20.400 username is HamTalkLive, or you can just call 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:23.960 us by regular old telephone. That number is 812 00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:30.500 -NET -HAM -1, 812 -638 -4261. You can also tweet 00:03:30.500 --> 00:03:34.639 your questions if you want. That's at HamTalkLive. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:37.740 We already have one, so I'll get to that in a 00:03:37.740 --> 00:03:41.240 minute. and we'll take your calls. So I'll be 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:44.840 back with Emmett right after this word from Tower 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:48.340 Electronics right here on HamTalk Live. This 00:03:48.340 --> 00:03:50.620 episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you in 00:03:50.620 --> 00:03:53.780 part by Tower Electronics. Tower Electronics 00:03:53.780 --> 00:03:57.020 has been the Ham's dime store since 1978. When 00:03:57.020 --> 00:03:59.740 you need connectors, mobile and handheld antennas, 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.199 cables, or adapters, visit Scott or Jill at a 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:06.560 HamFest near you. Or you can order online at 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:14.280 PL -259 .com or call 920 -435 -2973. Stock up 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:17.300 on those supplies like PL -259 and in connector. 00:04:17.290 --> 00:04:21.110 SMA adapters, audio cables, soldering supplies, 00:04:21.370 --> 00:04:24.089 mobile antennas, and hamsticks. Their silver 00:04:24.089 --> 00:04:26.990 -plated in -connectors are even used on the International 00:04:26.990 --> 00:04:30.329 Space Station. Tower Electronics carries MFJ, 00:04:30.550 --> 00:04:34.689 Comet, Daiwa, OPEC, Workman, and HamPro products. 00:04:34.889 --> 00:04:38.490 And don't miss their 0 % off sale going on now. 00:04:38.629 --> 00:04:43.069 Tower Electronics, online at PL -259 .com. Proud 00:04:43.069 --> 00:04:47.259 to sponsor this episode of HamTalk Live. Two 00:04:47.259 --> 00:04:49.879 antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:53.259 married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception 00:04:53.259 --> 00:04:56.459 was excellent. You're listening to HamTalk Live 00:04:56.459 --> 00:05:09.620 with Neil Rapp. We'd like to thank Scott and 00:05:09.620 --> 00:05:12.199 Jill at Tower Electronics for sponsoring the 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:14.959 show tonight to help bring you HamTalk Live. 00:05:15.470 --> 00:05:17.790 They're taking a break from the HamFest tour 00:05:17.790 --> 00:05:20.089 for a couple of weeks, but they'll be back at 00:05:20.089 --> 00:05:25.149 it on January 14th in Orlando at the University 00:05:25.149 --> 00:05:27.790 of Central Florida. And then they'll be in Fort 00:05:27.790 --> 00:05:30.850 Myers, Florida, St. Charles, Illinois and Collinsville, 00:05:30.850 --> 00:05:33.870 Illinois. So until then, give them a call at 00:05:33.870 --> 00:05:40.439 920 -435 -2973. or visit their website at PL 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:45.459 -259 .com and tell them you heard it here on 00:05:45.459 --> 00:05:48.779 HamTalk Live. HamTalk Live is on the air every 00:05:48.779 --> 00:05:51.300 Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time right 00:05:51.300 --> 00:05:54.439 here on HamTalkLive .com and if you missed the 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:56.740 show you can listen to the archive on the website 00:05:56.740 --> 00:06:01.180 or download it from most popular podcasting websites. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:05.839 Emmett Honessey III, W0QH is the chief engineer 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:09.100 at Radio Waves in the St. Louis, Missouri metro 00:06:09.100 --> 00:06:12.480 area. Emmett designs and builds custom antennas 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:16.139 for both amateur and commercial radio. He's been 00:06:16.139 --> 00:06:18.980 on numerous ham radio podcasts teaching about 00:06:18.980 --> 00:06:21.800 antennas and was instrumental in the operation 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:26.100 of the W8D Dayton Hamvention Superstation. And 00:06:26.100 --> 00:06:29.279 we may even talk about that for next year a little 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:33.079 bit this evening. He also also recently helped 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:37.899 activate the Dry Tortugas National Parks, as 00:06:37.899 --> 00:06:41.899 opposed to the Wet Tortugas, I guess. Anyway, 00:06:42.060 --> 00:06:44.139 they had a de -expedition there, and he helped 00:06:44.139 --> 00:06:46.959 out with that. And his company, Radio Waves, 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:49.839 is also a proud co -sponsor of the amateur radio 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:53.850 news line Young Ham of the Year Award. You can 00:06:53.850 --> 00:06:57.569 visit radio waves online at radio waves with 00:06:57.569 --> 00:07:03.889 a Z. That's radio waves wavz .com So Emmett, 00:07:04.009 --> 00:07:06.610 thanks so much for coming on the show tonight 00:07:06.610 --> 00:07:11.069 Scott It's Neil. I'm sorry. I'm someplace else. 00:07:11.649 --> 00:07:15.089 I was just I was just talking about Scott and 00:07:15.089 --> 00:07:17.449 no Yeah, I was thinking about it was it's funny 00:07:17.449 --> 00:07:19.870 I've got a I was just looking at a picture of 00:07:19.870 --> 00:07:22.670 him when he's at this electrical exhibit of someone 00:07:22.670 --> 00:07:24.589 who got electrocuted and then he's like standing 00:07:24.589 --> 00:07:30.670 right next to it and anyway No, I had my mind 00:07:30.670 --> 00:07:32.910 on Scott for just a second. Sorry about that. 00:07:33.209 --> 00:07:36.970 I kind of went off on us. But Neil, it's an honor 00:07:36.970 --> 00:07:39.629 to be here with you, man. It's good hearing you 00:07:39.629 --> 00:07:42.209 again and seeing you again earlier today. And 00:07:42.209 --> 00:07:45.069 sorry I got you so involved in our conversation 00:07:45.069 --> 00:07:48.490 that we missed the start time of the show. Yeah, 00:07:48.490 --> 00:07:50.870 we were getting ready and we got talking about 00:07:50.870 --> 00:07:52.889 something. And all of a sudden I looked up and, 00:07:52.930 --> 00:07:57.139 oh! it's too it's too after so sorry about that 00:07:57.139 --> 00:08:00.680 folks yeah we were yeah we were talking to uh 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:02.720 we were talking about scott of course or actually 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:05.139 no it was or was it christian i'm not really 00:08:05.139 --> 00:08:08.500 sure yeah yeah one of the one of those guys yeah 00:08:08.500 --> 00:08:14.379 yeah well anyway uh let's get into the to the 00:08:14.379 --> 00:08:16.800 antennas and i have some fun with this tonight 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:22.379 um and one of the things i know that you're interested 00:08:22.379 --> 00:08:26.040 in is, you know, making stuff out of stuff you 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:30.980 got laying around. Um, but first let's, let's 00:08:30.980 --> 00:08:36.240 talk about just a basic antenna bill. Let's say 00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:40.019 that you know the sunspot cycles awful the the 00:08:40.019 --> 00:08:43.080 bands have needed cardiopulmonary resuscitation 00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:47.440 here lately uh and you know 160 is is going to 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:50.700 be a better option for the next few years so 00:08:50.700 --> 00:08:53.980 let's say i decide i want to put up an antenna 00:08:53.980 --> 00:09:00.179 for 160 what do you suggest well my one go -to 00:09:00.179 --> 00:09:03.000 antenna for a single band operation as far as 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:05.379 a wire type antenna would be a simple double 00:09:05.379 --> 00:09:09.019 bazooka The quickest installation would be a 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:11.220 dipole, but the quietest would be the double 00:09:11.220 --> 00:09:12.940 bazooka because you have a little bit more gain, 00:09:13.159 --> 00:09:17.279 it's quieter, and it has a little bit more bandwidth 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:21.230 than your normal dipole. Very good. You want 00:09:21.230 --> 00:09:23.990 to give the newbies out there a little explanation 00:09:23.990 --> 00:09:26.529 on what the double bazooka is, by the way? Oh, 00:09:26.529 --> 00:09:28.889 sure. The double bazooka is basically an antenna 00:09:28.889 --> 00:09:31.070 that's made out of coax, and what we've done 00:09:31.070 --> 00:09:36.049 is we've taken what you can call a folded dipole 00:09:36.049 --> 00:09:39.529 and put... Basically the element that would be 00:09:39.529 --> 00:09:41.730 you know, let's say the top element and that's 00:09:41.730 --> 00:09:44.110 actually the the center conductor of the coax 00:09:44.110 --> 00:09:47.549 and then on the ends Most people don't realize 00:09:47.549 --> 00:09:49.929 this but those those end wires really all they 00:09:49.929 --> 00:09:52.690 are tuning stubs They are meant to make the antenna 00:09:52.690 --> 00:09:56.509 resonate at the specific frequency at 50 ohms, 00:09:56.509 --> 00:10:02.879 which is nice Very good What this does is it 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:05.299 basically creates a loop type antenna. It gives 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:07.879 you some of the benefits of a loop antenna, which 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:11.720 is very quiet. It reduces the noise that you 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:14.759 would normally hear from, let's say, magnetic 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:23.850 type devices like motors and someone's bad. Ignition 00:10:23.850 --> 00:10:26.009 system as they drive by and I can't begin to 00:10:26.009 --> 00:10:28.009 tell you how many times You know, like the dump 00:10:28.009 --> 00:10:29.830 truck is driving down the street and they've 00:10:29.830 --> 00:10:33.129 got a bad, you know Glow plug or something like 00:10:33.129 --> 00:10:35.490 that. You can hear just whining as it goes goes 00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:41.370 down the street almost in stereo You know but 00:10:41.370 --> 00:10:50.090 yeah, okay great well and a 160 loop well, you'd 00:10:50.090 --> 00:10:53.610 have to have Yeah, you need real estate for that 00:10:53.610 --> 00:10:56.090 Yeah, you'd need about 500 feet for that and 00:10:56.090 --> 00:10:58.929 that's the that's an alternative to having something 00:10:58.929 --> 00:11:01.169 like a loop would be something like the double 00:11:01.169 --> 00:11:04.190 bazooka It's designed just for that one frequency 00:11:04.190 --> 00:11:09.049 especially It's a high -performance antenna for 00:11:09.049 --> 00:11:11.389 one frequency and that's the way we like to describe 00:11:11.389 --> 00:11:15.649 it. We've got a couple serious DXers and also 00:11:15.649 --> 00:11:20.629 people who like to compete in different competitions 00:11:20.629 --> 00:11:23.450 that like to use the double bazooka as a spotter 00:11:23.450 --> 00:11:25.750 type antenna and then they'll use their beams 00:11:25.750 --> 00:11:29.029 and whatever and point it in the direction that 00:11:29.029 --> 00:11:31.549 they you know that they hear the signals coming 00:11:31.549 --> 00:11:34.289 from but for the most part it's it's an excellent 00:11:34.289 --> 00:11:37.009 antenna to play with if you have one band and 00:11:37.009 --> 00:11:39.090 one band only you want to play on and that would 00:11:39.090 --> 00:11:41.169 be the double bazooka then of course the next 00:11:41.169 --> 00:11:44.720 one would be a simple dipole which is basically 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:47.480 you know two wires with a with a matching not 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:51.759 a matching section but a simple baling that you 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:53.379 would put up in the middle and you don't even 00:11:53.379 --> 00:11:55.679 necessarily have to go out and buy a baling you 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:59.659 can make one yourself fairly simply and we can 00:11:59.659 --> 00:12:01.580 probably get into that in a little bit as we 00:12:01.580 --> 00:12:05.759 get into the discussion of antennas 101 yeah 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.659 great well you mentioned that you know having 00:12:09.659 --> 00:12:13.399 to improvise is always something that that we 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:17.179 need to do. And yeah, I learned that this fall 00:12:17.179 --> 00:12:20.600 in some contesting and our main antenna went 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:25.179 down and we had to improvise. But one of the 00:12:25.179 --> 00:12:27.279 things I wanted to ask you about is something 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:30.399 that At the Dayton Youth Forum a few years ago. 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:33.559 There was a high school club which which I do 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:37.240 But this was a different high school club and 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:40.940 they had a crazy antenna building contest That 00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:43.460 was one of their activities where they just took 00:12:43.460 --> 00:12:47.080 any kind of random object and tried to load it 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:51.559 up So they had ladders they had shopping carts 00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:57.649 from the grocery store They had light poles What 00:12:57.649 --> 00:13:01.529 advice do you have about trying to make one of 00:13:01.529 --> 00:13:05.429 these with just some random objects like that? 00:13:06.110 --> 00:13:10.710 Oh, man. Yes. One of the things that one of the 00:13:10.710 --> 00:13:12.450 things that you and I were discussing earlier 00:13:12.450 --> 00:13:16.090 when we before we were on the air and we ended 00:13:16.090 --> 00:13:20.409 up starting late was was how we in the beginning 00:13:20.409 --> 00:13:25.129 back when I was young. That did happen once back 00:13:25.129 --> 00:13:28.299 when I was young. Back in the day. Yeah. When 00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:31.480 you had to walk to school uphill both ways through 00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:34.720 10 feet of snow in the middle of a sharknado. 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:38.340 Actually, it was 20 below zero quite often where 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:40.659 I was coming to school. But that's another story. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.740 But the thing was, is I wanted to, and believe 00:13:43.740 --> 00:13:45.519 it or not, this was about when I was about seven 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:49.200 years old, I wanted to listen to the Omaha Royals 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:53.200 play baseball. And I, of course, didn't have 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:55.799 a radio to listen to it and I couldn't and my 00:13:55.799 --> 00:13:57.980 parents, you know, back then we didn't necessarily 00:13:57.980 --> 00:14:00.059 have the money to just buy me a radio so I can 00:14:00.059 --> 00:14:03.139 listen to it. So they did the next best thing. 00:14:03.179 --> 00:14:06.659 They took me to the library and I found a book 00:14:06.659 --> 00:14:12.200 on radios and I found the plans for a cat whisker 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:17.039 type radio and I built that thing and That's 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:18.720 when I first started getting in trouble because 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:22.139 it was really simple. It was wire with a toilet 00:14:22.139 --> 00:14:26.700 paper roll, a razor blade, a pencil lead back 00:14:26.700 --> 00:14:38.620 when they used real pencil leads, a bobby pin, 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:49.039 and the speaker. was our phone. Back when I did 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:51.120 this, this was when you still had to lease your 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:54.299 phone from Bell. Needless to say, I got in so 00:14:54.299 --> 00:14:57.220 much trouble from my dad because I took the phone 00:14:57.220 --> 00:15:01.000 apart, took the speaker part out and used it 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:03.220 for my radio and then I tried sneaking it back 00:15:03.220 --> 00:15:06.759 and I didn't get it back in time. It was funny. 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:09.720 That's how I started. It was literally the wire 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:12.899 I found was just wire that was you know the phone 00:15:12.899 --> 00:15:14.980 guys had a whole bunch of wire that was just 00:15:14.980 --> 00:15:16.899 kind of laying around over by a place where my 00:15:16.899 --> 00:15:19.360 dad worked and they said yeah go ahead and take 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:21.299 that spool right over there and it was just basically 00:15:21.299 --> 00:15:23.919 that you know your simple single pair type wire 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:27.700 and I measured things out I coiled everything 00:15:27.700 --> 00:15:30.360 up on the toilet paper roll I did all the things 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:32.320 that they said in the instructions and I built 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:35.220 my own antenna my first antenna was out was made 00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:41.759 out of a extension cord one of those Back at 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:45.179 the time it was a Christmas tree extension cord 00:15:45.179 --> 00:15:48.100 so it was like about a 30 foot wire and I just 00:15:48.100 --> 00:15:51.179 split it in half and stuck both legs outside 00:15:51.179 --> 00:15:54.580 and brought it in so it was like a small miniature 00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:57.500 doublet and it was amazing. I could pick up so 00:15:57.500 --> 00:16:00.799 many things. It was a lot more than just... uh, 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:03.679 the Omaha Royals baseball, it was the world. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:07.100 And from that point on, um, I've been, I mean, 00:16:07.100 --> 00:16:08.919 it was literally that, that was like the light 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:12.220 bulb came on and it hasn't shut off yet or burnt 00:16:12.220 --> 00:16:15.320 out yet. Yeah. So what, what do you think of 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:20.659 this, this shopping cart thing? I love it. It 00:16:20.659 --> 00:16:23.539 actually worked. They made it. The rule was you 00:16:23.539 --> 00:16:28.080 had to make one contact with it. Right. Or it 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:32.350 didn't count. Yep. And it works. Yeah, it's amazing. 00:16:32.350 --> 00:16:37.350 I've seen people load You know like those those 00:16:37.350 --> 00:16:39.769 aluminum chairs that you that you get for sitting 00:16:39.769 --> 00:16:44.990 out on the beach or going out places I've I myself 00:16:44.990 --> 00:16:48.490 have done like I've taken a soda can I'll cut 00:16:48.490 --> 00:16:50.429 off the top cut off the bottom and then I use 00:16:50.429 --> 00:16:54.070 like scissors and I cut cut it into one continuous 00:16:54.919 --> 00:16:57.059 wire effectively. You'd be surprised. You'd get 00:16:57.059 --> 00:17:01.639 almost 16 feet of wire off of a soda can. It's 00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:04.240 flat. It's very fragile, but you have about 16 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:06.319 feet, which if you were to figure that out, what 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:10.180 would 16 feet times 2 give us real quick? Oh, 00:17:10.180 --> 00:17:12.440 that'd be about 20 meters, wouldn't it? And then 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:16.940 it would be a quarter wave on 40. So you could 00:17:16.940 --> 00:17:19.380 do a lot with practically nothing. It's just 00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:22.859 a matter of allowing your mind to imagine what 00:17:22.859 --> 00:17:28.319 you can do with with what you've got. And as 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:30.440 an exercise back in the day when I was in the 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:32.319 military, or even before, well actually around 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:35.339 the time when I was in the military, our life 00:17:35.339 --> 00:17:39.640 was all about constantly testing ourselves, constantly 00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:42.940 pushing an envelope, constantly making ourselves 00:17:42.940 --> 00:17:45.079 uncomfortable, putting ourselves in situations 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:48.450 where We didn't have everything we needed to 00:17:48.450 --> 00:17:50.869 do our job. So we had to work with what we had 00:17:50.869 --> 00:17:54.150 in the field. And trust me, Neal, sometimes the 00:17:54.150 --> 00:17:57.309 places that I was at, there was nothing in the 00:17:57.309 --> 00:18:01.789 field. You got to be really creative, really 00:18:01.789 --> 00:18:04.490 quick on making things work. And when you knew 00:18:04.490 --> 00:18:09.109 lives were on the line, there's that added incentive 00:18:09.109 --> 00:18:13.630 of making things work. Just real quick, we do 00:18:13.630 --> 00:18:20.890 have at our website at www .radiowaves .com, 00:18:21.190 --> 00:18:24.390 I've got a section set up. It's called Antenna 00:18:24.390 --> 00:18:26.789 Data and Information. So if you go to our website 00:18:26.789 --> 00:18:29.049 and you look at the top bar, you'll see a section 00:18:29.049 --> 00:18:32.089 called Antenna Data and Information. In there, 00:18:32.210 --> 00:18:35.309 you'll have, if you go to that location, I've 00:18:35.309 --> 00:18:38.890 got a section called antenna systems with several 00:18:38.890 --> 00:18:41.150 downloads. And a couple of these downloads are 00:18:41.150 --> 00:18:44.349 really handy downloads to have. One was a slide 00:18:44.349 --> 00:18:47.890 rule that I designed for ICOM radio. It pretty 00:18:47.890 --> 00:18:49.910 much gives you the links and everything. All 00:18:49.910 --> 00:18:52.210 you do is you just download the PDF, cut it out, 00:18:52.509 --> 00:18:54.700 and put it together. The other one is a real 00:18:54.700 --> 00:18:57.039 slide rule, Neil, and you've got that one, don't 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:00.099 you? Yeah, the real one. I do, actually. Slide 00:19:00.099 --> 00:19:03.279 rule. That is a tool that I use, believe it or 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:06.119 not, just about every day, mainly because it's 00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:08.279 so much quicker than typing in everything to 00:19:08.279 --> 00:19:10.960 get the right answer. Of course, on my wheel, 00:19:10.980 --> 00:19:12.960 I've got little cheats that I've already, you 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:15.539 know, over the years I've put in it, but what's 00:19:15.539 --> 00:19:18.339 so cool about it is you can pretty much pick 00:19:18.339 --> 00:19:20.720 a frequency, and it'll give you an idea about 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:22.539 the length of wire that you need to work with. 00:19:22.730 --> 00:19:24.789 The other downloads by the way on the website 00:19:24.789 --> 00:19:28.170 are antennas and propagation, which this is the 00:19:28.170 --> 00:19:31.130 army manual on, you know, basic antenna theory, 00:19:31.690 --> 00:19:34.509 basic propagation. And by understanding just 00:19:34.509 --> 00:19:38.210 those two things, you'd be surprised at how much 00:19:38.210 --> 00:19:40.170 of the world gets opened up to you because you 00:19:40.170 --> 00:19:43.910 can figure out fairly quickly. what you need 00:19:43.910 --> 00:19:46.609 to do to make things work and there's a whole 00:19:46.609 --> 00:19:50.690 section in there in that manual on field improvised 00:19:50.690 --> 00:19:53.549 antennas and that's something we'll continue 00:19:53.549 --> 00:19:54.990 to talk about and then of course you have the 00:19:54.990 --> 00:19:56.809 regular radio wave slide rule and then you have 00:19:56.809 --> 00:19:59.430 the U .S. Army antenna systems and then I'm not 00:19:59.430 --> 00:20:02.170 going to be prejudiced we also have the U .S. 00:20:02.390 --> 00:20:04.750 Marine antenna manual it's got more pictures 00:20:04.750 --> 00:20:11.640 in it oh it has more pictures I see Yeah, we 00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:16.140 don't we don't want to start another Battle here 00:20:16.140 --> 00:20:21.200 All right, so before we take a break here and 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:26.359 then we're gonna take some calls What about a 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:28.259 little more traditional antenna we talked about 00:20:28.259 --> 00:20:31.680 the crazy antennas like the shopping cart, but 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:34.599 Just stuff laying around at home that you may 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:38.259 have already. What do you? suggest for making 00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:42.940 a more traditional for actual performing antenna 00:20:42.940 --> 00:20:46.339 Okay, I'm gonna give you a number. It's a special 00:20:46.339 --> 00:20:48.519 number. It's a key number It's a number that 00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:50.579 if you can remember this number, you can probably 00:20:50.579 --> 00:20:52.799 have the key to figure out just about everything 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:57.279 that you need Four six eight everyone get a pen 00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:59.460 and paper and write this special number down 00:20:59.460 --> 00:21:03.920 four six eight What do you think that number 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:09.680 is Neil? That would be the speed of light converted 00:21:10.879 --> 00:21:14.660 to meters or feet feet for wavelength that's 00:21:14.660 --> 00:21:16.140 correct and then of course there's a little bit 00:21:16.140 --> 00:21:18.519 of an adjustment for it for you know because 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:20.180 we're going to be using thin wire instead of 00:21:20.180 --> 00:21:22.400 super wide wire but with that number that's a 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:24.539 half wavelength so you take whatever frequency 00:21:24.539 --> 00:21:26.720 you think you're going to be working on divide 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:29.819 that by 468 and that's the total length of wire 00:21:29.819 --> 00:21:33.720 you need to have a resonant wire on the frequency 00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:35.680 that you want to operate on and then you can 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:37.539 cut that in half and then you have your basic 00:21:37.539 --> 00:21:41.990 dipole Now, because I'm a scientist, I have to 00:21:41.990 --> 00:21:44.809 give out the other number. Please. And that's 00:21:44.809 --> 00:21:49.750 300. Yes. In meters. Believe it or not, I actually 00:21:49.750 --> 00:21:53.470 use meters more than I do Imperial because it's 00:21:53.470 --> 00:21:56.109 just so much simpler to work with for me. I like 00:21:56.109 --> 00:21:58.210 tens. It's easier to work instead of fractions. 00:21:58.549 --> 00:22:02.809 Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I try to convince people 00:22:02.809 --> 00:22:07.220 of that. Sometimes it's difficult. Yeah I mean 00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:09.440 it's like you know it's hard to change our ways 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:12.579 and I understand that but for you know just like 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:14.680 you said on this from the scientific standpoint 00:22:14.680 --> 00:22:17.359 by not dealing with fractions but by dealing 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:20.099 with tens it's easier to work and it's quicker 00:22:20.099 --> 00:22:24.420 to calculate too. Yep sure is okay I interrupted 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:26.799 go ahead. No go ahead you're going into a break. 00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:30.619 No you're good go ahead and so what do we do 00:22:30.619 --> 00:22:35.250 with the 468? Okay, take the 468 you divide that 00:22:35.250 --> 00:22:37.150 by the frequency that you think you're gonna 00:22:37.150 --> 00:22:42.009 operate on so let's go with 468 divided by 14 00:22:42.009 --> 00:22:46.089 .1 Okay, and that would give you a number. I 00:22:46.089 --> 00:22:48.829 don't have my calculator with me But it will 00:22:48.829 --> 00:22:51.710 give you a number around 16 and a half feet long 00:22:51.710 --> 00:22:58.069 Okay actually 33 Around 33 feet and what will 00:22:58.069 --> 00:22:59.970 happen there is you take that number and you 00:22:59.970 --> 00:23:03.019 divide that by 2 okay once you got that number 00:23:03.019 --> 00:23:06.259 which should be about 16 and a half feet that's 00:23:06.259 --> 00:23:08.359 the length of wire you need for each side of 00:23:08.359 --> 00:23:11.000 the dipole and what you'll do is you'll take 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:13.599 like you take an extension cord you could take 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:16.619 some spare wire some old phone wire i can't begin 00:23:16.619 --> 00:23:18.480 to tell you how many phone how many antennas 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:23.119 i've made out of telephone wire um scrap wire 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:26.019 um pull it to the you know pull it to the length 00:23:26.019 --> 00:23:30.160 cut it And then try and put it together in, if 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:31.680 you have a piece of coax, you can go ahead and 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:34.259 connect it to the coax. If you don't have coax, 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:37.519 you can make something like a doublet. Or what 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:40.740 you can do is at that point, at that 16, you 00:23:40.740 --> 00:23:42.839 know, the center point, you can go ahead and 00:23:42.839 --> 00:23:45.519 twist the wires together all the way down and 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:48.680 it becomes a balanced feed all the way down. 00:23:48.779 --> 00:23:51.259 And in many cases, believe it or not, just like 00:23:51.259 --> 00:23:54.140 that, it should almost work without having to 00:23:54.140 --> 00:23:57.640 mess with tuning or anything like that. Sometimes 00:23:57.640 --> 00:24:00.240 if you have to do tuning, you can do something 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:03.519 like a common mode type choke. With twin lead, 00:24:03.740 --> 00:24:06.859 it's not as easy. But what you have to do is 00:24:06.859 --> 00:24:10.559 you just give it a couple more twists at the 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:14.200 top. towards the top of the antenna, or you change 00:24:14.200 --> 00:24:17.000 the angle of the antenna. In other words, you 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:20.960 either lower the center so that the things are 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:24.259 more level, or you drop the legs down so they're 00:24:24.259 --> 00:24:26.579 a little bit at a higher angle. And believe it 00:24:26.579 --> 00:24:29.000 or not, that will have a tendency of changing 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:33.099 the overall impedance of the antenna. So this 00:24:33.099 --> 00:24:35.000 is kind of interesting with the dipole. Most 00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:38.839 people don't realize is that at an antenna that's 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:42.359 a dipole, at a flat top is 75 ohms. And that's 00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:45.220 why we use that one -to -one baling, that voltage 00:24:45.220 --> 00:24:47.039 baling or the current baling that you hear about 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:50.460 so much. Or if you set it up as an inverted V, 00:24:50.460 --> 00:24:54.259 it becomes closer to 50 ohms. So what happens 00:24:54.259 --> 00:24:59.000 is by changing the angle of the wire, you can 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:01.339 actually change the impedance of the antenna 00:25:01.339 --> 00:25:04.140 without having to mess with matching sections 00:25:04.140 --> 00:25:09.670 and stuff like that. Very good. We are going 00:25:09.670 --> 00:25:11.849 to take a break. We're going to pay some of the 00:25:11.849 --> 00:25:14.950 bills. But we're going to come back and when 00:25:14.950 --> 00:25:19.089 we do... Who's that bill guy? Yeah, I think he 00:25:19.089 --> 00:25:22.029 started Microsoft, if I remember right. Yeah. 00:25:22.910 --> 00:25:25.529 When we come back, we're going to... take your 00:25:25.529 --> 00:25:28.089 call. So get ready for that. I'll let you know 00:25:28.089 --> 00:25:30.809 when, but we're going to take your calls here 00:25:30.809 --> 00:25:34.309 in just a minute. After this message from the 00:25:34.309 --> 00:25:37.369 ham station right here on ham talk live. This 00:25:37.369 --> 00:25:40.029 episode of ham talk live is brought to you by 00:25:40.029 --> 00:25:44.170 the ham station for over 37 years. The ham station 00:25:44.170 --> 00:25:47.329 has sold new and used radios, antennas, accessories, 00:25:47.589 --> 00:25:50.769 and equipment to hams everywhere. Give Dan or 00:25:50.769 --> 00:25:57.779 Jeff a call at 800 -729 -40 or order online at 00:25:57.779 --> 00:26:01.720 hamstation .com. Hamstation carries all the major 00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:05.460 brands like Icom, Yezu, and Kenwood. And they 00:26:05.460 --> 00:26:09.079 have a wide selection of radio scanners, MFJ 00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:12.039 accessories, Heil sound products, amplifiers 00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:15.240 by Mirage and Ameritron, Cushcraft antennas, 00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:18.609 and more. Easy online ordering is at hamstation 00:26:18.609 --> 00:26:25.109 .com or call 1 -800 -729 -4373 to place an order 00:26:25.109 --> 00:26:28.269 and talk it over with the experts. The Ham Station, 00:26:28.549 --> 00:26:32.009 proud to sponsor this episode of Ham Talk Live. 00:26:35.049 --> 00:26:40.109 Oh yeah. You're talking ham radio, baby. You're 00:26:40.109 --> 00:26:46.079 listening to Ham Talk Live with Neil Rapp. Join 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:49.240 the conversation. Call us on voice with Skype 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:53.240 at HamTalk Live or give us a call at 812 -NET 00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:59.339 -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 -4261. Now, here's more 00:26:59.339 --> 00:27:03.549 HamTalk Live! Welcome back to HamTalk Live, The 00:27:03.549 --> 00:27:06.210 Ham Station, as you covered for used equipment 00:27:06.210 --> 00:27:09.470 and new equipment. Give Jeff or Dan a call at 00:27:09.470 --> 00:27:16.210 800 -729 -4373 or go to hamstation .com and tell 00:27:16.210 --> 00:27:19.269 them you heard it on HamTalk Live. Be sure to 00:27:19.269 --> 00:27:22.009 listen to HamTalk Live every Thursday night, 00:27:22.009 --> 00:27:25.109 live at 9 p .m. Eastern Time. All you have to 00:27:25.109 --> 00:27:28.910 do is go to hamtalklive .com. Also check out 00:27:28.910 --> 00:27:31.089 our Facebook page and Twitter feed, just search. 00:27:31.180 --> 00:27:35.359 for HamTalk Live. So it's time for your calls 00:27:35.359 --> 00:27:38.019 now. If you have an antenna question for Emmet, 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:44.640 call 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 -4261. 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:48.039 Or you can Skype your question at HamTalk Live 00:27:48.039 --> 00:27:53.079 or you can tweet at HamTalk Live. We do have 00:27:53.079 --> 00:27:56.480 one question here on Twitter we will start off 00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:01.809 with from AirDispatcherLAS. and wants to know, 00:28:02.289 --> 00:28:04.910 I want to build antennas. Do you need an antenna 00:28:04.910 --> 00:28:10.890 analyzer? And if so, hang on here a second. Let 00:28:10.890 --> 00:28:14.069 me turn you back on here. And if so, which one 00:28:14.069 --> 00:28:17.289 is best? Which antenna analyzer is best? And 00:28:17.289 --> 00:28:24.029 your thoughts on the MFJ269C. Wow, good question. 00:28:24.670 --> 00:28:28.009 Technically, an analyzer is an excellent tool 00:28:28.009 --> 00:28:31.410 to have in your your shack at just about any 00:28:31.410 --> 00:28:33.190 given time there actually there's a couple things 00:28:33.190 --> 00:28:35.769 that you know if you have the ability and you 00:28:35.769 --> 00:28:39.130 have the the funding for it um you know an analyzer 00:28:39.130 --> 00:28:41.430 is always a good thing you could also go with 00:28:41.430 --> 00:28:44.049 a noise bridge which doesn't cost as much and 00:28:44.049 --> 00:28:47.150 gives you about the same information uh definitely 00:28:47.150 --> 00:28:49.829 you need a dummy load a good dummy load because 00:28:49.829 --> 00:28:52.619 you're gonna You're going to use it as a diagnostic 00:28:52.619 --> 00:28:56.200 tool to determine if your coax is bad or something. 00:28:56.599 --> 00:28:59.019 But for the most part, yes, an analyzer is something 00:28:59.019 --> 00:29:02.240 that should, if you can afford it and you can 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:05.680 get it, definitely have one in your shack. Otherwise, 00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:07.519 there are other ways of tuning an antenna, believe 00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:10.279 it or not, that you don't necessarily need an 00:29:10.279 --> 00:29:13.460 analyzer. Although, I will admit I carry an analyzer 00:29:13.460 --> 00:29:15.500 with me just about every time I go in the field. 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:18.720 And you're not going to believe this analyzer 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:25.250 is the... is the MFJ -223. It's a little itty 00:29:25.250 --> 00:29:27.369 -bitty thing that quite literally fits into your 00:29:27.369 --> 00:29:30.589 pocket. It's accurate enough to give me an idea 00:29:30.589 --> 00:29:34.569 of what's going on with the antenna and it allows 00:29:34.569 --> 00:29:36.769 me to get into the area that I want to get into. 00:29:36.950 --> 00:29:40.509 I like the 223. It also has a nice little color 00:29:40.509 --> 00:29:43.049 display and it's also good for when we're at 00:29:43.049 --> 00:29:44.990 shows to show people this is what the antenna 00:29:44.990 --> 00:29:55.019 does. The question on the MFJ 269C, believe it 00:29:55.019 --> 00:29:58.599 or not, we have one at just about every spot 00:29:58.599 --> 00:30:01.859 in our shop. In other words, every bench has 00:30:01.859 --> 00:30:05.599 at least one of those analyzers there. Because 00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:10.019 the thing we discovered about the 269 series 00:30:10.019 --> 00:30:13.420 products is that... They're fundamental circuits, 00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:16.700 which means they're easier to work with. And 00:30:16.700 --> 00:30:19.279 they give us the answers that we're actually 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:22.119 looking for when we're trying to, let's say, 00:30:22.339 --> 00:30:27.160 tune a NFET halfway of antenna component. We 00:30:27.160 --> 00:30:29.740 literally, when we build our NFET halfway of 00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:33.500 antennas, we hand tune each of those coils. And 00:30:33.500 --> 00:30:37.880 these analyzers have proven to be you know, the 00:30:37.880 --> 00:30:40.640 most efficient and the easiest for our guys to 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:43.599 basically work with. There's a lot of other analyzers 00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:49.380 out there like RigPro. I also have what's called 00:30:49.380 --> 00:30:54.319 MiniVNA, which I love a lot. I take it with me 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:57.579 too, especially when I'm doing certain types 00:30:57.579 --> 00:30:59.859 of engineering work, when I need to have a lot 00:30:59.859 --> 00:31:03.769 more complex, you know, uh... let's just say 00:31:03.769 --> 00:31:05.910 telemetry information and so on about what's 00:31:05.910 --> 00:31:08.450 going on on the antenna or the circuit or the 00:31:08.450 --> 00:31:14.000 filter or whatever uh... so yeah Quick, a long 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:16.440 answer to a short question was, yes, if you can 00:31:16.440 --> 00:31:20.000 get a V &A or an analyzer, that would be good. 00:31:20.119 --> 00:31:23.960 I definitely like the 269. Matter of fact, I 00:31:23.960 --> 00:31:29.940 have an MFJ 269 that I purchased back in 1997, 00:31:29.940 --> 00:31:34.579 I think, and it's still in service. I've taken 00:31:34.579 --> 00:31:37.039 that. That one analyzer has literally helped 00:31:37.039 --> 00:31:39.259 me to put together something on the order of 00:31:39.259 --> 00:31:43.940 75 FM radio stations in Africa. So needless to 00:31:43.940 --> 00:31:46.640 say, that was the one tool that I had with me 00:31:46.640 --> 00:31:49.019 to put together a lot of different things in 00:31:49.019 --> 00:31:51.619 the field. And it's durable and it still works. 00:31:52.599 --> 00:31:54.940 Very good. Oh, we've got a caller on the line 00:31:54.940 --> 00:31:59.740 here. Who's this? Yes, sir. This is Tony Ridland 00:31:59.740 --> 00:32:03.259 from Kokomo, Indiana. KC9QVE is my call sign. 00:32:03.299 --> 00:32:08.519 And my question was, I run HF with a 120 foot 00:32:08.519 --> 00:32:12.579 wire outside my one level department. building 00:32:12.579 --> 00:32:14.700 and a lot of times in the winter you know with 00:32:14.700 --> 00:32:16.779 the ice and snow and stuff a lot of times the 00:32:16.779 --> 00:32:19.880 weight of the ice sometimes makes that 10 wire 00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:21.900 although we've uh my hand buddies have helped 00:32:21.900 --> 00:32:24.380 me upgrade with like a thicker black wire than 00:32:24.380 --> 00:32:26.420 what we used last winter a lot of times it comes 00:32:26.420 --> 00:32:31.619 apart and i have a uh portable mfj i remember 00:32:31.619 --> 00:32:33.700 here right in front of me let's see if i can 00:32:33.700 --> 00:32:36.980 find the crazy thing you know 1621 but it's just 00:32:36.980 --> 00:32:40.200 for 40 through 10 my question i guess is is there 00:32:40.200 --> 00:32:43.849 a more efficient Indoor antenna element that 00:32:43.849 --> 00:32:46.769 could just be put indoors in my shack So like 00:32:46.769 --> 00:32:48.650 in the winter much especially we'll have to worry 00:32:48.650 --> 00:32:51.029 about it breaking again for like the sixth or 00:32:51.029 --> 00:32:54.430 seventh time the last two or three pairs Is are 00:32:54.430 --> 00:32:57.190 you talking about it's like a it's a it's a coil 00:32:57.190 --> 00:33:02.349 the 1641 Okay. Yeah some sometimes that helps 00:33:02.349 --> 00:33:07.460 the if you have like a porch or something like 00:33:07.460 --> 00:33:10.440 that and you lose your 120 foot wire because 00:33:10.440 --> 00:33:14.019 of bad weather it doesn't hurt to have I've gone 00:33:14.019 --> 00:33:18.819 as far as just using a like a one of those telescoping 00:33:18.819 --> 00:33:21.420 stainless steel whip antennas that they sell 00:33:21.420 --> 00:33:25.039 with a coil and I literally attach it to let's 00:33:25.039 --> 00:33:29.359 say the the the porch you know the somewhere 00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:31.279 on the porch and then I'll either run it what's 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:34.440 called a counterpoise Where I run a couple wires 00:33:34.440 --> 00:33:37.440 down below or I'll just connect to the steel 00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:40.059 railing and use that as my counterpoiser ground 00:33:40.059 --> 00:33:44.419 plane You'd be surprised what you can do with 00:33:44.419 --> 00:33:46.299 something very simple. And the nice thing about 00:33:46.299 --> 00:33:49.259 having that coil is it allows you to kind of 00:33:49.259 --> 00:33:52.900 fine -tune things by moving your alligator clip 00:33:52.900 --> 00:33:55.119 up and down the coil to get you the best signal. 00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:57.099 And of course, if you don't have an analyzer, 00:33:57.319 --> 00:33:59.299 what you do is you go to your radio, you turn 00:33:59.299 --> 00:34:01.819 your AGC off, and you just start moving things 00:34:01.819 --> 00:34:04.019 up and down until you hear the maximum static, 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:07.519 if you can find a dead spot on the band. And 00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:10.079 what you do is you just go for the loudest noise, 00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:12.099 and that will generally tell you that you're 00:34:12.110 --> 00:34:15.630 pretty much in the area you want to be. All right. 00:34:15.750 --> 00:34:17.449 Well, gentlemen, I appreciate the information 00:34:17.449 --> 00:34:21.769 and I hope you get a whole lot more info on the 00:34:21.769 --> 00:34:24.730 podcast. You take several more calls with even 00:34:24.730 --> 00:34:26.349 more questions, probably even better than the 00:34:26.349 --> 00:34:28.190 one that I asked. Appreciate it very much. 73. 00:34:28.849 --> 00:34:32.489 73. That was a good point. Tony, that was a very 00:34:32.489 --> 00:34:34.489 good question, by the way, because it's, you 00:34:34.489 --> 00:34:36.570 know, how many times do we have one antenna and 00:34:36.570 --> 00:34:38.289 the next thing you know, it's not working anymore. 00:34:38.309 --> 00:34:42.130 What are we going to do? I've had that happen 00:34:42.130 --> 00:34:44.769 so many times. As a matter of fact, we had one 00:34:44.769 --> 00:34:47.369 example was out on the batfish, the USS batfish, 00:34:47.389 --> 00:34:50.949 which is a submarine that tornado took out the 00:34:50.949 --> 00:34:54.050 main antennas and the big loop antenna. So, you 00:34:54.050 --> 00:34:56.090 know, it was all about trying to come up with, 00:34:57.010 --> 00:34:59.389 come up with, you know, what can we do to get 00:34:59.389 --> 00:35:01.449 on the air? And it was quite interesting, the 00:35:01.449 --> 00:35:03.210 different things we came up with. And of course 00:35:03.210 --> 00:35:06.309 we did get on the air. But yeah, you're going 00:35:06.309 --> 00:35:08.989 in the right direction, Tony. I appreciate you 00:35:08.989 --> 00:35:11.849 very much. Happy 2017 to both of you. Bye -bye. 00:35:12.409 --> 00:35:15.250 Thanks, Tony. Bye -bye. And we've got another 00:35:15.250 --> 00:35:19.130 call on the line. It's Karen Eve -Murray, KD2GUT. 00:35:19.570 --> 00:35:22.489 Good evening, Karen. Hey, good evening. How's 00:35:22.489 --> 00:35:25.530 everything going there? Excellent. It's really 00:35:25.530 --> 00:35:28.170 nice. It's not too cold, not too hot. Actually, 00:35:28.170 --> 00:35:30.389 I'm down in my lab, so I can't tell you what 00:35:30.389 --> 00:35:32.610 the temperature is outside. I was going to say, 00:35:32.750 --> 00:35:35.510 as long as you're not frozen where you can't 00:35:35.510 --> 00:35:39.010 move, and as long as you Aren't too hot. You're 00:35:39.010 --> 00:35:41.889 doing good. I have a question. I'm planning ahead 00:35:41.889 --> 00:35:45.510 actually for the spring And maybe you can help 00:35:45.510 --> 00:35:48.789 me out. I'm a relative radio rookie. I've got 00:35:48.789 --> 00:35:52.929 my ticket maybe three years Not quite and everything 00:35:52.929 --> 00:35:55.730 I have in my shack right now is kind of off the 00:35:55.730 --> 00:35:59.090 shelf. I've done no building I wanted to get 00:35:59.090 --> 00:36:02.550 up and running. I think 2017 is going to be the 00:36:02.550 --> 00:36:04.929 year for me to get out into the parks. I don't 00:36:04.929 --> 00:36:07.429 know that I'll be doing any summits, but when 00:36:07.429 --> 00:36:09.710 it's beautiful out, who wants to be indoors? 00:36:10.190 --> 00:36:14.710 Can you suggest for me, as a relative newbie, 00:36:14.989 --> 00:36:19.050 an antenna that I can use, preferably for one 00:36:19.050 --> 00:36:24.050 or two bands, but if my option is only one band, 00:36:24.130 --> 00:36:28.539 what would be a good HF antenna for me to try 00:36:28.539 --> 00:36:32.440 building and setting up myself On site that would 00:36:32.440 --> 00:36:34.539 that would really get things rolling for me in 00:36:34.539 --> 00:36:37.519 the spring. I think You know what you've touched, 00:36:37.719 --> 00:36:40.199 Karen, thank you for calling. You've really touched 00:36:40.199 --> 00:36:44.019 on a very good topic right there. One thing that 00:36:44.019 --> 00:36:47.000 I really appreciated about the National Parks 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:49.880 on the Air is the huge mobilization of people 00:36:49.880 --> 00:36:52.780 getting out and just experiencing nature and 00:36:52.780 --> 00:36:57.500 having fun and enjoying their hobby. And Karen, 00:36:57.679 --> 00:36:59.619 I will tell you this, whenever I go somewhere, 00:36:59.880 --> 00:37:03.219 I always generally have a HF radio of some kind 00:37:03.219 --> 00:37:06.769 with me. And I will take one or two different 00:37:06.769 --> 00:37:09.909 types of antennas. The first antenna is one of 00:37:09.909 --> 00:37:12.250 our in -fed half wave antennas. It's an all band 00:37:12.250 --> 00:37:14.449 antenna. It's not the most efficient antenna 00:37:14.449 --> 00:37:17.969 in the world. However, it is a good antenna to 00:37:17.969 --> 00:37:20.309 get on the air and literally talk around the 00:37:20.309 --> 00:37:23.449 world on with not a lot of power. It's about 00:37:23.449 --> 00:37:26.349 33 feet long, so it's not that hard to, you know, 00:37:26.369 --> 00:37:28.510 if you had something like a push -up pole or 00:37:28.510 --> 00:37:30.389 you could throw something up in a tree, just 00:37:30.389 --> 00:37:34.369 running, you know, that wire somewhere, it doesn't 00:37:34.369 --> 00:37:36.469 take too much to get on the air. The other one 00:37:36.469 --> 00:37:41.210 is, is an in -fed... I'd like to kind of go with 00:37:41.210 --> 00:37:43.510 the in feds especially with real quick mobile 00:37:43.510 --> 00:37:45.849 type stuff because you don't want to be running 00:37:45.849 --> 00:37:47.909 a whole lot of wire you don't want to attract 00:37:47.909 --> 00:37:50.809 a huge amount of attention to yourself as far 00:37:50.809 --> 00:37:53.670 as all the stuff you're setting up and plus we 00:37:53.670 --> 00:37:55.670 want to have fun when we go out so we don't want 00:37:55.670 --> 00:37:57.610 to spend all our time setting things up just 00:37:57.610 --> 00:38:00.489 to have about five minutes on the radio the other 00:38:00.489 --> 00:38:04.989 antenna is a in fed half wave 40 -20 -10 and 00:38:04.989 --> 00:38:07.230 what that gives you is it gives you 40 meters 00:38:07.230 --> 00:38:10.909 20 meters and 10 meters without a tuner, and 00:38:10.909 --> 00:38:14.469 it's very efficient and fed. The reason why I 00:38:14.469 --> 00:38:18.449 kind of like it is because it is a full 20 meter 00:38:18.449 --> 00:38:21.630 half wave antenna. It's a full wavelength 10 00:38:21.630 --> 00:38:24.750 meter antenna, and it's kind of, you know, it's 00:38:24.750 --> 00:38:27.010 a compromise on the 40 meter side, but you can 00:38:27.010 --> 00:38:30.329 definitely get out. And those are two antennas 00:38:30.329 --> 00:38:32.849 that I really like, especially going out in the 00:38:32.849 --> 00:38:36.400 field. Every year around the 4th of July, I like 00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:39.239 to visit my daughter up in Boston, around Boston, 00:38:39.500 --> 00:38:43.019 or actually in New Hampshire. And I have a tendency 00:38:43.019 --> 00:38:46.269 of climbing up Mount Monadanoq. And what I like 00:38:46.269 --> 00:38:48.550 to do is go up on top of the mountain and I'll 00:38:48.550 --> 00:38:51.929 set up a little HF radio with an antenna and 00:38:51.929 --> 00:38:53.949 generally believe it or not that antenna is one 00:38:53.949 --> 00:38:58.909 of our in not an in fed halfway, but it's a One 00:38:58.909 --> 00:39:01.909 of our like a 40 meter off center fed which gives 00:39:01.909 --> 00:39:04.349 me you know some pretty good gain on 20 I get 00:39:04.349 --> 00:39:10.219 40 as a resonant as a resonant component, and 00:39:10.219 --> 00:39:12.900 then I can sometimes get 15 in and I can get 00:39:12.900 --> 00:39:16.000 a lot of the other bands in. And I really like 00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:18.019 that as far as just being able to get out in 00:39:18.019 --> 00:39:20.239 the field and do something. It's light, it's 00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:24.059 easy, it fits in a pencil case, and you're on 00:39:24.059 --> 00:39:28.039 the air. And that's the key thing. Yeah, I appreciate 00:39:28.039 --> 00:39:31.380 that because when I get to the site, I envision 00:39:31.380 --> 00:39:35.579 myself unpacking and then saying all right I'm 00:39:35.579 --> 00:39:37.940 now going to kill two hours trying to figure 00:39:37.940 --> 00:39:40.559 out how to set up the antenna and basically I 00:39:40.559 --> 00:39:44.159 want to plug and play this this would be the 00:39:44.159 --> 00:39:46.599 ticket for that Oh yeah, as a matter of fact, 00:39:47.059 --> 00:39:49.440 sometimes pre -planning, if you can put like 00:39:49.440 --> 00:39:52.699 your radio, they sell these Pelican cases at 00:39:52.699 --> 00:39:55.980 Sam's for $15. You could probably put your radio 00:39:55.980 --> 00:39:59.679 in the battery or if you have a small, don't 00:39:59.679 --> 00:40:02.019 get a big car battery or anything like that. 00:40:02.559 --> 00:40:04.960 You can get these lighter weight batteries that 00:40:04.960 --> 00:40:08.280 will give you like 12 to let's say 20 amp hours 00:40:08.280 --> 00:40:11.139 of power which will give you a couple hours without 00:40:11.139 --> 00:40:14.820 having to worry about charging things. and then 00:40:14.820 --> 00:40:17.719 just kind of have everything figured out before 00:40:17.719 --> 00:40:19.940 you go out and if you just as you keep doing 00:40:19.940 --> 00:40:23.280 it make little notes and tune your kit so that 00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:26.940 way when you get out there you connect the coax 00:40:26.940 --> 00:40:29.500 to the to the antenna the antenna goes up on 00:40:29.500 --> 00:40:33.460 your push -up fiberglass pole you can either 00:40:33.460 --> 00:40:35.800 get those through like mfj sell some really good 00:40:35.800 --> 00:40:40.369 push -up all up to 33 feet or You can go to Walmart 00:40:40.369 --> 00:40:43.530 and get a 16 -foot crappie pole and then run 00:40:43.530 --> 00:40:46.710 your wire up that way. Just keep it simple. Don't 00:40:46.710 --> 00:40:50.010 make it complicated because the whole idea of 00:40:50.010 --> 00:40:51.750 you going out there in the first place is enjoy 00:40:51.750 --> 00:40:55.989 the environment, enjoy the ambiance, and have 00:40:55.989 --> 00:40:59.260 some fun with your hobby. That I would like yeah, 00:40:59.260 --> 00:41:04.219 I'm past the age of climbing trees, so Like the 00:41:04.219 --> 00:41:07.460 idea of the pole very definitely or I can make 00:41:07.460 --> 00:41:09.980 friends with some of the local squirrels maybe 00:41:09.980 --> 00:41:12.760 it's There you go. There you go, right attach 00:41:12.760 --> 00:41:17.840 an acorn to one end But I think these poles are 00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:20.460 certainly the way to go. Thank you. Thanks very 00:41:20.460 --> 00:41:22.860 much problem Another thing I carry in my kit 00:41:22.860 --> 00:41:25.420 to just to let you know is a baseball with an 00:41:25.420 --> 00:41:30.239 eye hook in it And what I do is I pick up some 00:41:30.239 --> 00:41:33.739 80 pound test or 50 pound test monofilament line 00:41:33.739 --> 00:41:36.780 and tie it to that baseball. And I can throw 00:41:36.780 --> 00:41:40.300 it up in a tree fairly easy. And I'm using a 00:41:40.300 --> 00:41:42.519 very lightweight monofilament, not lightweight, 00:41:42.559 --> 00:41:44.360 but it's 50 pounds. So it's more than enough 00:41:44.360 --> 00:41:47.519 to hold the antenna. It's not so big that it 00:41:47.519 --> 00:41:53.460 takes up a ton of space. And I can easily take 00:41:53.460 --> 00:41:56.380 it back whenever I want. Okay, I throw like a 00:41:56.380 --> 00:42:01.679 girl. That's just it. You take a small baseball, 00:42:02.300 --> 00:42:04.219 you can just start swinging it like you're swinging 00:42:04.219 --> 00:42:34.889 your purse. the fifth to get myself back out. 00:42:35.250 --> 00:42:38.750 I worked one park and had a real blast. And I 00:42:38.750 --> 00:42:41.150 said, you know what? I've got to be doing more 00:42:41.150 --> 00:42:43.530 of this in the year to come. So this will definitely 00:42:43.530 --> 00:42:45.710 get me started, because the antenna was an issue 00:42:45.710 --> 00:42:48.090 for me. I said, what am I going to do with an 00:42:48.090 --> 00:42:51.610 antenna? Just look at that. Just look at something 00:42:51.610 --> 00:42:55.250 like a simple push -up pole. The in -fed antenna 00:42:55.250 --> 00:42:57.690 is the easiest of all. So something like the 00:42:57.690 --> 00:43:03.010 in -fed half wave, 40, 20, 10. A pathfinder always 00:43:03.010 --> 00:43:06.389 works. And what you can do too, just for the 00:43:06.389 --> 00:43:08.750 fun of it, on a not so terrible day outside, 00:43:09.469 --> 00:43:11.489 pretend like you're going out to the park and 00:43:11.489 --> 00:43:13.969 set your stuff up out on your back porch. I can 00:43:13.969 --> 00:43:16.449 begin to tell you how many times Rochelle and 00:43:16.449 --> 00:43:19.349 I have sat out on our back porch on a night and 00:43:19.349 --> 00:43:22.079 I literally set stuff up. And we just talk on 00:43:22.079 --> 00:43:24.000 the radio with everything I just set up on the 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:26.000 porch. I'm not using our main antennas. I'm just 00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:27.639 using what I would normally take in the field. 00:43:28.019 --> 00:43:29.840 And we have a ball. And we have a nice little 00:43:29.840 --> 00:43:36.679 fire. And it's kind of cozy and comfy. And in 00:43:36.679 --> 00:43:39.760 an indirect way, I'm practicing for when I do 00:43:39.760 --> 00:43:41.800 go in the field. But yet I'm having fun doing 00:43:41.800 --> 00:43:45.199 it at home. That's right. And by the time, in 00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:47.480 my case, by the time I get out into the field, 00:43:47.619 --> 00:43:50.260 I will have already done it. It'll be, we hope, 00:43:50.539 --> 00:43:52.800 second nature. That's good. Yeah. You've already 00:43:52.800 --> 00:43:54.500 worked out your kinks. You haven't discovered 00:43:54.500 --> 00:43:56.179 that you're missing half the stuff you need to 00:43:56.179 --> 00:43:58.260 get on the air. Because you've already done it 00:43:58.260 --> 00:44:00.539 at home. And you put it in a little case. You 00:44:00.539 --> 00:44:03.340 keep it simple. Keep it light. And you'll have 00:44:03.340 --> 00:44:06.789 fun. All right, I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have 00:44:06.789 --> 00:44:09.650 to cut you off here We're almost out of time, 00:44:09.670 --> 00:44:11.969 but we'll keep going and we've got another question 00:44:11.969 --> 00:44:15.619 on Twitter, we'll get that by email and Emmett, 00:44:15.800 --> 00:44:18.679 we may have to do this again. So anyway, that's 00:44:18.679 --> 00:44:22.099 a wrap for this edition of HamTalk Live. Thanks 00:44:22.099 --> 00:44:25.619 to Emmett from Radio Waves and everyone out there 00:44:25.619 --> 00:44:28.340 in cyberspace for listening and calling in and 00:44:28.340 --> 00:44:30.380 invite you back next Thursday night at 9 p .m. 00:44:30.380 --> 00:44:34.159 Eastern time when Dave Anderson K4SV will be 00:44:34.159 --> 00:44:37.420 here to talk about rig comparisons and beverage 00:44:37.420 --> 00:44:40.320 antennas. And for a list of all of our upcoming 00:44:40.320 --> 00:44:44.369 guests, visit HamTalk Live. So for now, this 00:44:44.369 --> 00:44:49.670 is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 7375, and may the 00:44:49.670 --> 00:44:51.289 good DX be yours.