Busted Vee

Walking the dog in the rain Wednesday morning, I noticed that one leg of my 80-meter inverted Vee antenna was missing!

Trying to investigate further with a leash in one hand and an umbrella in the other, I discovered that the antenna had come undone after the wire passes through the end insulator and wraps back around itself. It is an easy fix and I will get to it this weekend.

I gathered up the pieces and wrapped the loose end of the wire around the base of my tower to get it out of the way. By the way, the bungee cord that spanned the air between the end insulator and an eye hook bored into a tree was nowhere to be found.

And for what its worth, I listened around the LW and MW bands and did not notice much of a loss of signal strength using the busted antenna with the ELAD FDM-S2 receiver.

Lightning on Channel 7

The line of thunderstorms that passed through here around 8 PM last night, passed through NYC a little earlier and made an appearance at the end of WABC TV's 6 PM newscast, as seen here.

Stretching Stretch

The 40-meter inverted Vee that I stretched for 80 meters last week is a keeper. So I wanted to do something more permanent about how the antenna was supported.

Each end of the antenna was tied to trees with a rope. There was no give, so if one of the trees swayed enough in the wind, the antenna might break apart.

In the past, I used weighted plastic bottles as counterweights. But I thought there might be a better and simpler way, so I searched the Internet for ideas.

Somebody suggested bungee cords. (Why hadn't I thought of that?) So I bought some new bungee cords, shortened the rope on each end of the antenna, and placed a bungee cord between eye hooks bored into each tree and the shortened ropes.

Worked like a charm!

Stretch

The weather on Friday was unseasonably mild for this time of year in this neck of the woods: sunny, dry, mid-60's temperatures with a slight breeze. It was probably our last gasp before the winter weather sets in, so I thought some antenna work was in order.

The performance of my 40-meter inverted V is adequate for 7 MHz, but not much else, so I decided to try an 80-meter inverted V.

I did not have the time (or inclination) to climb the tower, take down the 40-meter antenna and replace it, so I stretched it for 80 meters by splicing 30 feet of copper wire onto each end of the 40-meter antenna. It took about three hours to accomplish the task, which included almost an hour of tree trimming with my trusty old pruning pole.

I was very happy with the results. Received signals on all bands were considerably stronger with "Stretch" and the SWR was very good on all bands... so good on some bands that the automatic antenna tuner in my KX3 did not have to work up a sweat.

Surfin': Tackling Stacking

I do not have a fear of heights. In fact, I love the view from heights like the view from the top of buildings and mountains and airplanes, but I do have a fear of falling from heights.

A ladder collapsed under me once; I fell about five feet and broke two ribs. I don't want to think about falling from higher heights and that's why I don't like working on my 55-foot tower much. It telescopes down to about 20 feet, but that is still something to be wary of, so I pray for a future son-in-law who owns a bucket truck.

KB2HZI  doesn't need no stinkin' bucket truck. Lori Higgins builds Yagis and stacks them on the two towers at her contest station in New York's Catskill Mountains. The photo above is the view from the top of one of Lori's towers and this set of photos shows her working on the stack of her 60-foot tower without chipping a nail!

According to Ray Higgins, W2RE, who alerted me about Lori, "Not only does she do tower work, she runs marathons, bike rides 100 miles a week. Her full-time employment is a nurse. She works part-time for RemoteHamRadio.com. She also operates at multi-ops during ARRLDX and CQWW.

Until next time, keep on surfin'!

Surfin': An Antenna Advantage

 

Sunday afternoon, I added two stations to my AM radio log: WHDD on 1020 kHz in Sharon, Connecticut, and WWRL on 1600 kHz in New York City. The two are numbers 157 and 158 in the log that I started keeping about 18 months ago.

During those 18 months, I have used four different radios with four different external antennas. I added the latest loggings using a Crane CC SW Pocket AM/FM/SW radio and a Terk Advantage indoor AM antenna.

The Terk Advantage can be connected directly to a radio that has external antenna connectors, but may also be inductively coupled to a radio without external antenna connectors. Since the CC SW Pocket has no external antenna connectors, I have been using the inductive coupling option.

Initially, I placed the radio next to the antenna (see first figure). The problem with that configuration was that when I moved the antenna to null out or peak a signal, I then had to move the radio so that it was adjacent to the antenna.

Sometimes the null or peak would change slightly after I repositioned the radio and I would have to tweak the null or peak and reposition the radio again. There had to be a better way.

Since the CC SW Pocket is so small, I tried placing it inside the loop of the antenna (see second figure). It fit perfectly and when I moved the antenna to null or peak a signal, the radio moves with the antenna, thus I usually find the null and peak on the first attempt.

The Advantage is an excellent antenna. It is lightweight and compact with a 9-inch diameter.

It does a great job pulling in signals. Oftentimes, it picks up signals that the radio does not hear with its own internal antenna. Couple the radio with the antenna and suddenly there is a station on frequency that was not detectable sans the antenna.

The dial on the antenna allows you to peak the signal. It is labeled in kilohertz to simplify tuning the peak.

The Advantage also does a fine job of nulling signals. When I logged WWRL, WHNP in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, was equally as strong on 1600 kHz. Although the two stations were approximately 180 degrees apart at my location, WWRL to my southwest and WHNP to my northeast, I was able to null out WHNP and hear WWRL in the clear.

One more thing: the Terk Advantage is the coolest looking antenna I have ever owned.

Until next time, keep on surfin'.

WNAX

 

WNAX (570 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a News/Talk format. It is licensed to Yankton, South Dakota. Due to the flat landscape of the Upper Great Plains with near-perfect ground conductivity and its location near the bottom end of the AM band, the station's 5,000-watt signal covers large portions of South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and North Dakota. Besides Sioux Falls (its "home" market) and Sioux City, it can be heard clearly in Omaha, Lincoln and Des Moines. Under the right conditions, it can be heard as far south as Kansas City and as far north as Fargo. It has the second largest daytime land coverage area of any US based radio station, after KFYR in Bismarck, North Dakota. (Source: Wikipedia)

Surfin’: Wire in the Spring

This week, Surfin’ considers spring outdoor maintenance -- with wire antennas in mind.

Get Organized

My radio shack is a little disorganized. It is not messy, just crowded because there is too much stuff crammed into it.

For example, there are four laptop computers taking up space on my radio desk. About twice a week, I use one computer for non-radio purposes. A second computer will be the user interface to my Hermes SDR. A third computer is an old Linux box that gets very little use and the fourth computer is dead, but I am saving it for parts.

I intended to organize the shack during my holidays vacation, but Santa Claus interfered with my plans when he delivered the C.Crane Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna. Instead of getting organized, I chase AM DX with the new antenna.

To paraphrase a famous Southern belle, I will worry about getting organized tomorrow.
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What the Tower Beared

I worked on the log periodic antenna and got it back into shape physically, but due to the rainy weekend, I could not test it electronically until today. I tested it on 2 meters and the SWR was great across the whole band.

I was very surprised. I thought that that antenna was a goner, but now it is a keeper.

I also checked out the rotor today. It worked, but very noisily.

I lubricated it and that quieted it a lot. All it needs now is new clamps and hardware.

Surfin’: Logging Periodically

This week, Surfin’ can begin antenna maintenance now that the trees are out of the way.

Surfin’: I See Live Hams

This week, your Surfin’ editor sees hams in the salt water antenna video and maybe on The Big Bang Theory.

Surfin’: Contesting One Extreme to Another

This week, Surfin’ considers contesting from one end of the HF radio spectrum to the other.

Surfin’: The 500 Club

This week, Surfin’ considers the previous 499 installments of Surfin’.

Surfin': Radio-Spotting Through the Windshield

On the road, this week's Surfin' views the world of radio through the windshield.

Surfin': My World Is a Radio

This week, Surfin' views the world through radio-colored glasses.

Surfin': Revisiting "Where's DX?" and "Antennas in High Places"

The follow-up e-mails that Surfin' generates often expand on the topics that Surfin' originally covered. This week, Surfin' reviews the topic-expanding e-mails received during the past few weeks.

Surfin': Antennas in High Places

This week, Surfin' explores the Internet looking for the highest radio antennas on Earth.

Surfin': Professionally Making Trees Go Away

This week, Surfin’ reconsiders last week’s Surfin’ and concludes that you should go with a pro.

Surfin': Making Trees Go Away

This week, Surfin’ reveals Web sites that provide safety information for do-it-yourself lumberjacks and lumberjills.