[GCARC] Equipment Question

[Tony Starr]

Hi Chris,

Welcome to amateur radio and to GCARC. Glad to see you are interested in HF
operation, and there is plenty of help available to you within the club
that will have you off and running in no time.  Our club website, which is
one of the best that you will find anywhere, has a resource called The
Elmer's Shack, that is filled with great articles for you to read and
digest. Also, we have an Elmer's list ( an Elmer is a mentor in ham radio
parlance )  in our newsletter each month which lists volunteers that are
available for you to consult with if you have an issue.  I am one of those
listed, and my specialty is antenna construction.

As far as which bands to start out on, I would avoid 160 at first because
antenna challenges make being successful on 160 a chore, even for the
experienced.  And 80 meters is not a good place for a beginner to learn
good operating habits, as you will eventually find out.  I always recommend
starting out on 40 meters and / or 20 meters, because it is relatively easy
to get results on those two bands without becoming frustrated.  A dual band
dipole, for 40 and 20 is easy to build, and only requires one tall support,
which can be a tree or a telescopic pole of some sort.  It can be fed by a
single coax cable and is very efficient. No antenna tuner will be needed,
as the antenna will easily cover the entire band if you cut it for the
center.  I can give you more details if you need them.

Again, welcome and glad to have you aboard.  73!

Tony Starr K3TS
President GCARC



On Sun, Aug 22, 2021 at 7:05 PM Christopher Prioli <cpprioli at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hello Folks...
>
> First off, please allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Chris Prioli
> and I am a brand new ham located in Pitman.  You may have seen my name
> listed as the newest member of GCARC and listed as an Amateur Extra.
> Please don't let that fool you.  I am completely new to this -- I just took
> all three exams in one night, passing all three.  Needless to say, I have a
> lot to learn, which brings me to the point of this e-mail.
>
> I am looking for equipment suggestions, specifically as related (right now)
> to transceivers.  Let me tell you what I've got going on.  I have a pair of
> kits on order -- one is a 75 meter rig and the other is a dual-band set. As
> packaged, it is a 160 meter & 80 meter set. However, it can easily be
> re-configured to operate on any two bands, choosing from 160 meters, 80
> meters, 40 meters, 30 meters, 20 meters, and 17 meters. My question right
> now involves this set -- specifically, which two bands would be my best
> option in this area?   I also have a (started) µBitx HF all-band kit
> coming, sent to me gratis by a ham friend in Missouri.  All of these sets
> are QRP -- 10W or so max, but with a linear, that won't bother me much.
>
> As to antennas, I was given a new 2 meter Yagi from Arrow Antennas, which I
> plan to put up on a mast of about 30 feet.  That should work well with my
> current HT, a Baofeng BF-F8HP 8W unit.  Sitting outdoors, I can hit the
> Pitman repeater with no problem.  I have not yet tried it from indoors. I
> might do that Tuesday for the noontime net.
>
> I welcome any and all advice or suggestions.  Thanks much for your time...
>
> 73
>
> -- Chris   AD2CS
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Christopher P Prioli
> 648 W Holly Ave
> Pitman, NJ  08071
> 1-856-689-6783
> ______________________________________________________________
> GCARC mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/gcarc
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:GCARC at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html