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

[Edward R Cole]

Brandon,

Yes, the WA5VJB yagis is popular and works well, but the wood and 
cheap boom construction is not up to the rigors of mobile/rovering.

I built a 6m moxon to take on our long trip south this summer and it 
worked very well (basically is two element yagi with ends bent toward 
each other and physically acting like a rectangular loop.  I used a 
wooden boom (1-inch closet pole) for support clamped to two 7-foot 
sections of TV mast.  This was tied off to the ladder on back of our 
trailer so antenna extended about 2-3 foot above the roof.  I 
recommend the moxon over a 2-element 6m yagi as structurally better.

I have used M2 yagis quite a bit and are rugged.  But not cheap.  In 
the past I have used only the 2m or the 70cm elements mounted on an 
Arrow antenna.

Notes on my projects:
2m 1200w amp is ready for "smoke" tests
6m dual-yagi array is complete except for running some phasing lines 
and attaching some phillystran braces; needs to be raised off the 
ground at least 10-foot to check tuning.
New Ham-IV rotator will be delivered by Fedex tomorrow.
I will either repair or replace 432 preamp when I lower the 2m-eme 
array for rotor work.

wx looks OK for getting outside to work.

73, Ed

At 08:27 AM 11/18/2018, Brandon Clark wrote:
>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
> > >______________________________________________________________
> > >ak-vhf mailing list
> > >Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ak-vhf
> > >Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> > >Post: mailto:ak-vhf at mailman.qth.net
> > >
> > >This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> > >Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> >
> > 73, Ed - KL7UW
> >    http://www.kl7uw.com
> > Dubus-NA Business mail:
> >    dubususa at gmail.com
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________
> > ak-vhf mailing list
> > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ak-vhf
> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> > Post: mailto:ak-vhf at mailman.qth.net
> >
> > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> >
>______________________________________________________________
>ak-vhf mailing list
>Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ak-vhf
>Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>Post: mailto:ak-vhf at mailman.qth.net
>
>This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

73, Ed - KL7UW
   http://www.kl7uw.com
Dubus-NA Business mail:
   dubususa at gmail.com