[600MRG] "The Lowdown Amateur Radio Antenna for 630 Meters Model 630.PD"

[John Langridge]

I'm a big fan of the bucket variometer and if you take the time to
wind it with taps every other turn minimum, you can resonant a 30 foot
capacitively top loaded vertical in about 2 minutes just by checking
each tap and watching what X is doing with your on your analyzer.  No
calculations required to do that.

Then is just a matter or matching to the feed line and there are a
bunch of options there and minimal math required.

John Molnar, WA3ETD, wrote a great article for CQ a few years ago that
is more of less on his website with details for how he winds buckets:
https://wg2xka.wordpress.com/the-variometer/

So there are easy options for resonating and matching existing
vertical antennas on 472 for someone willing to put in a little elbow
grease.

73!

John..




On 1/11/22, Dwight Blevins via 600MRG <600mrg at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
> Greg,
> You asked about "something equivalent." There definitely is and it will cost
> you maybe $125.00 max (if that). The equivalent is a 5 gallon plastic
> bucket, a cheap 25' aluminum vertical and a roll of solid core insulated
> wire (16 or 18 gauge). Add a 3-wire top hat to the vertical and ground mount
> the thing with the big bucket loading coil, feed point taped up from ground.
> I'm 75 years old and easily picked up the whole apparatus and had it up and
> tied off in less than an hour, once everything else was assembled.
>
> It works great on receive and my little 5 watt one tube 630m exciter loads
> up with ease. I can copy KB5NJD Q5 most any time he is on the air, CW. All I
> have for a counterpoise is that the mounting mast goes in the ground maybe
> 40 inches and I have that tied off to a nearby chain link fence. Again, tip
> of the antenna is maybe 25' up. For the top section I bought a 60 inch whip
> which attaches to the top of the vertical where the top hat wires are
> connected. They go down at a 45 angle, tied off with insulators to stakes on
> the ground. So the 3 top hat sloper wires serve to support the slender
> vertical when the wind comes.
>
> I don't know what the radiation resistance is, but the thing works great,
> low background noise, no BCI garbage, etc! I'm not saying don't buy the
> commercial antenna, but on my budget I have to make my own stuff, which is
> the fun part of the hobby :)
>
> 73'sKW7TColorado
>
>     On Tuesday, January 11, 2022, 06:38:03 AM MST, Greg KF5N
> <greg.electricity at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>  I like the design as I could use it even in my relatively small back yard.
> The availability of a turnkey antenna and other gear is good, but I'm not
> even sure there is that much easily available reference material if you want
> to build your own.
> I recently ordered the 2022 ARRL Handbook, and found only one page on LF
> propagation.  Did I miss something, or is there no other information on the
> ham LF allocations in the latest handbook?
> Let's say I was a newbie interested in trying out 630 meters.  Where would I
> go to find construction details for an antenna equivalent to this commercial
> offering?
> Long ago (1980s) I built and operated a Lowfer Beacon.  There was the series
> of books by Ken Cornell, and a couple of enthusiast periodicals on Lowfer
> and other LF topics.
> Lots of antenna topics and construction articles in those publications.
> Is there something equivalent to this today for 630 meters?
>
> 73 Greg KF5N
> On Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 8:03 AM John Langridge <kb5njd at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Good morning,
>
> Jamie, N2VJ, reported this morning on SLACK that a US-based company is
> producing a portable, turnkey 630-meter vertical antenna system.
> Originally developed for BC medium wave AM as an emergency continuity
> system, this model has been modified for 472-479 kHz.  You can see the
> specs here:  https://theradiosource.com/products/antenna-630pd.htm
>
> Jamie indicated that the company is probably testing the market and
> the price may be somewhere in the $890 USD range.  While that may seem
> pricey to some, there are a lot of people out there still waiting for
> a turnkey option and engineering and materials are expensive these
> days.  Yes you can build this stuff for a LOT cheaper but there are a
> lot of hams today that can't or won't so here is an option to fill the
> void.
>
> Have a look and show some interest as doing so often drives product
> development and innovation.
>
> Jamie explicitly noted that he is not endorsing this product and he
> has no financial interest.
>
> 73,
>
> John KB5NJD
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