[AK-VHF] NET: 17 Nov. - 144.200 USB

[Brandon Clark]

Hello group,

I've been missing the Saturday nets lately - was out of town the last two
weekends, and my remaining portable 2M yagi bit the dust during the
Turnagain Arm test about a month ago.

To get into the simplex net from my house I need gain. I'm working on a
bi-directional yagi for home use, which is basically a driven element with
a director on opposite sides. NEC2 modeling indicates that it should be
good for getting gain towards both the Mat-Su and Anchorage areas
simultaneously. East-west Rx/Tx will be down about 6db, which is fine since
there isn't much out those directions.

The other VHF project is a new suite of antennas for the rover. I used
WA5VJB yagis for the last two contests, but they didn't hold up very well -
good designs, but too lightly-constructed for my taste. For the January VHF
contest I'm going to be fielding new designs I modeled in 4NEC2. The plan
is for yagi antennas on 2M, 70cm, 1.25M, and 6M, all built with heavy-duty
aluminum and fiberglass construction. They also cover the full band with
under 1.5:1 SWR. If anyone is interested in the designs let me know.
Brandon



On Sat, Nov 17, 2018, 23:44 Edward R Cole <kl7uw at acsalaska.net wrote:

> Just a note about today's net:
>
> I was surprised to find infinite SWR (100w fwd/80w refl) at the
> beginning of the net so I switched to use my ARX-270 10-dB vertical
> for transmitting.  That lowered my signal about 10-dB from normal.
>
> AL7JX called at 9am and was S7 using my yagis for Rx.  Fortunately
> band was quiet with S3 level so Glenn  was strong.  Interestingly he
> searched by rotating his antenna for peak and found me very loud
> coming from West (apparent mountain bounce from across Cook
> Inlet).  This just shows that one should not just point directly on
> VHF+ bands as there is interesting propagation (at times).  Normally
> I can only work Glenn by pointing my yagis toward Anchorage which
> 180-degrees from direct path (guessing Chugach Mtn backscatter).
> KL7FZ was worked with S4-5 signal weak but readable
> WL7AU - S7 nice copy but he had trouble copying my vertical so I
> tried using the yagis even with high SWR - it worked better!
> KL6M - S9+10dB
> KL7YK - S5 difficult copy
> KL7JK - no copy
> KL4E - S9
>
> Normally would not operate with such bad SWR as I would expect the
> amp to shutdown.  It didn't.
>
> Spent afternoon installing LMR-600 phasing lines on new 6m dual-yagi
> system and soldering an 8-pin plug onto my elevation system cable
> outside in the light rain.  Did not troubleshot the 2m SWR.
>
> My new 2m 1200w amp is near completion and I found dc test with
> cooling fans running is too loud for operating SSB in the shack.  No
> problem for running digital eme modes as they are text with no audio
> in the room.  Ordered replacement Ham-IV rotator and 60-foot of new
> rotor cable to fix the 2m azimuth drive system.  May have the old
> rotator for sale (as-is).
>
> 73, Ed - KL7UW
> Happy Thanksgiving!
>
> At 09:37 PM 11/16/2018, Edward R Cole wrote:
> >Net begins at 9am on 144.200 USB
> >Hope to see you tomorrow on the net.
> >
> >73, Ed - KL7UW
> >   http://www.kl7uw.com
> >Dubus-NA Business mail:
> >   dubususa at gmail.com
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> 73, Ed - KL7UW
>    http://www.kl7uw.com
> Dubus-NA Business mail:
>    dubususa at gmail.com
>
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