Three 15 meter contacts I made today

...or 15 Meters was open this morning!

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oe3dia
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hi3tej
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oe3dia
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Steve, W4HKL

W4HKL Station Antennas

 

Here are my antennas. Not a lot, but they do what i need them to do. I'm most impressed with the 80 meter Half-Wave End Fed vertical/inverted-L/longwire (you decide what it is!) It tunes form 80 - 10 and seems to do really well 80 -20 meters.

For VHF/UHF, I rely on a Diamond X3200 Triband vertical. I've had it for about 4 years and haven't had a single problem with it. It's mounted above the high eave at one side of the house opposite the repeater antenna. It's not that high above ground, about 20 feet, but the house sits at around 1300 ft. and I'm right at the top of the hill.

Diamond X3200 (click photos for larger image)

For my repeater/remote base, I use a Cushcraft ARX450B... a descendant of the old Ringo Rangers.

 

Cushcraft ARX450B

I mainly got it due to it being rugged, having a feeding method which decouples the antenna from the feedline... and the price was right.

Since mounting it up on the top of the house and feeding it with LMR400 (RG-8X, get behind me, devil!) it has a good shot into the Caryville/Jacksoboro area... with LaFollette and the Campbell Co. side of Hwy 63. I'd say you can hit it mobile from the time you round the curve at the Speedwell Post office.  You should be in it until you’re on I-75. The main thing I want is HT coverage within a 7 mile radius and I think I've got it covered... and then some.  Teh remote base antennas will be a dual band 2 meter/440 and a separate DB Products UHF 7 element yagi aimed at the Middlesboro 442.325 WM4MD repeater.  I’ll be able to work the other UHF repeaters in the surrounding counties of that one as well (if it doesn’t desense too badly with the repeater.)

The view from the top of the hill.  Over the roofline lies Jacksboro and

points NE…

The HF is covered by the following system: An Alinco EDX-2 remote autotuner feeding a 126 foot end-fed inverted-L strung up and through the trees. It is fed against an 8' ground rod and is working great (1/2 verticals are not noticeably improved with extensive radial systems; research L. B. Cebik half wave antenna,  AA5TB End Fed Half Wave antenna; etc.)

 

Some pictures of my HF setup.

The front of the QTH.  The last hill behind the house is it…  on the other side is I-75 and Onieda… behind the camera is Caryville/Jacksboro.

 

The Alinco EDX-2 autotuner (8 ft ground rod below it)

 

 

The base of the antenna

 

The End Fed Half-Wave longwire

 

 

The Ground Crew, Buddy and Pugsly

 

Station W4HKL

 

HF station (Alinco DX-70, Alinco 32 amp switcher, Gap DSP Module

Rigblaster Plus for PSK31, etc), old IBM pentium M laptop)

 

The VHF/UHF Tower of “Babble”

Don't Let This Happen To You

You've just got your Ticket and your love of Amateur Radio is in full-swing.

My advice is to step back, take a deep breath, and don't let it go to your head.

Really.

Or you might end up looking like this.

Really.

I bet I got most of these pics from Hamsexy.com....

Remember, New Amateur... don't let this happen to YOU.

Steve, W4HKL

Amateur Station W4HKL

Below are some pictures of the W4HKL station.

A Plano plastic shelf was spray-painted to match the furniture of the living room.  Over time, a few shelves and mounting brackets, etc., have been added.

Across the top you can see a pair of Motorola extension speakers and a couple of others that the VHF/UHF and scanner are routed through.  I use an Icom SP-3 station speaker for HF audio.  I have recently "discovered" HF digital (PSK-31) and the Buxcomm Rascal radio to soundcard interface is draped beside the SB-200.

 

To the left is my first radio, an Alinco DJ-180 HT which served as my portable, my mobile, and my base on 2 meters through my college years.  There is one of two Radio Shack FRS HT's behind it.  Scanning is provided with a RS Pro-2035.  From left to right is a Kenwood TM-441A, and Alinco DR-235, and an Alinco DR-135.  Below those three VHF/UHF rigs is a Gap "Hear-It" DSP module, an Alinco DX-70, and a LDG AT 100 Pro autotuner.  The LDG serves double-duty in the mobile as well.  The SB 200 amplifier is in great shape, and I'm working on the funds to get a tuner that will handle it.  Power is supplied by two Alinco DM-330 32 amp switching power supplies.

 

 

The the Kenwood and 2 Alincos are fed into a Diamond triplexer which in turn feeds a a Comet CX-333 2m/220/440 vertical on the roof.  HF antenna duties are performed by a 160 meter loop strung through the trees at an average height of aprox. 20 feet.  As a cloudburner, it works great 160-40, but on 20 on up the lowering angle of attack exhibited by large loops in those bands works against me here down in the Gap.  An Antron 99 vertical is also used for 10-17 meters if the loop isn't getting it done.  A RS discone antenna is used for scanning and is also a back-up vhf/uhf as well.

 

  The author - no doubt calling "CQ Repeater!"

If you would like to share photos of your station, mobile set-up, antennas, or amateur project, sent a write-up and photos to mountain.amateur.radio.club@gmail.com or to w4hkl@live.com and I'll see it's published ASAP.

QSL Card Design

Below is about 2 hours of QSL Card design. It will be postcard sized and the signal report info, etc, will be on the back. You can click the image to see a bigger version.



- Steve, W4HKL