[K3PZN-List] presentations

Mon Jun 5 23:41:10 EDT 2017

James
Thanks for your interest.
I didn’t give much information about what I personally wanted as I thought this was to be a topic for a general presentation.
I did read the ARRL Handbook and Antenna book.  That is part of what led to my questions- what I read was “ideal” was not what I saw in practice.  I made some educated assumptions, but wanted to be more sure I was correct.  

You are right about simple wire dipoles.  I have had good success.  When I got my license, my wife told me:  “You can put up an antenna over my dead body”.  While it was a tempting thought, I opted instead for a resonant fan dipole (for 10 and 20M) in the attic over the garage.  15 feet above ground.  Actually worked well.  Over time the wife relented, and I now have a ladder line fed dipole about 30 feet up in the trees.  I have talked all around the world with that one.  Very impressed with what a little wire form Lowes will do.

As to what I would like:
1- I do mostly DX.  Not too interested in contests.  I do both digital and SSB.
2- Land is yet to be determined.  Now that the kids are out, the wife and I are looking to move.  Hopefully an acre or two for antennas.
3- trees?  Won’t know till we find the place
4- Bands I would like?  Simple.  All of them.  I would especially like to do 80, 40, 20, 15, 10.  Most common for Dx. And at some point I would like to get five band WAS.  As I understand it, phased verticals on 80 and 160 would use up a lot of land, not only between elements, but between the arrays and towers.  May be a bit much.  But I am open to anything right now.  Would also like stacked Yagis, but also costly in both money and land.
5- As I have not really done 80/160 it is hard to say exactly what I would want.  But from what I read, receive antennas seem to be needed.  One option to consider would be a skywave loop for 160/80.  Works well for transmit and receive both.
6- As I don’t do contests, 2 transmitters at once is not much of a concern.  Except it may be nice to monitor two frequencies at once.  (If I tune into a DXpedition working by the numbers, I could listen for them to get to threes with one ear while scanning for other stations using the other ear.
7-  Budget is good.  I am pretty much retired, and should be completely done by the end of 2018 for certain.  At that point I will keep working until I have funded my station.  I enjoy what I do so I can work a long time to pay for toys.  And it gives me an excuse to not be home. 

Thanks again for any insight you can give.
73
Mark
W3MSR

> On Jun 5, 2017, at 10:59 PM, James Nitzberg via K3PZN-List <k3pzn-list at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
> 
> Hi Mark,
> 
> This is a GREAT topic, and one of my personal favorites.  
> 
> You might be surprised how well your wire dipole would work at the right height (perhaps you already are).
> 
> You are correct that most folks place one tribander (or more bands on one antenna) at a compromise height because of cost and land constraints.  
> 
> There are also different heights for different objectives, and of course the lower in frequency you go, and the more DX you wish to work (assuming your goal is DX), the higher you generally wish to get the antenna.
> 
> Some questions for you to answer before I form some broad recommendations and suggestion for you are:
> 
> 1.  What is your goal?  To work DX?  USA stations?  Rag chewing?  Contesting???  Give me some idea of your interests.  CW or SSB?  Digital modes?
> 
> 2.  How much land do you have to use for your antenna installation?
> 
> 3.  Do you have any tall trees > 60 feet tall that you are willing to use for wire antennas (i.e. wire yagis, etc.)
> 
> 4.  Are you open to using a directional array of phased verticals on 80 & 160 meters?  Do you care about 80 & 60 meters?  
> (A better question is: What bands do you wish to operate and/or optimize?)
> 
> 5.  If you are hoping to do well on 80 & 160, do you wish to utilize specialized receive antennas (Beverages, loops, vertical arrays?)
> 
> 6.  Do you have any aspirations for running more than one simultaneous transmitter, or having one operator control two radios at once (SO2R)?
> 
> And last but not least....
> 
> What type of investment are you willing to make in dollars, to achieve your radio goals (a range is a good place to start, i.e. $1,000 - $5,000, $5,000 - $10,000, etc.)
> 
> If you give me this type of background on your goals, I can begin this dialogue over the reflector, or I can sharpen it and try to make an interesting 45 minute presentation
> with some examples of existing stations out of it.
> 
> 73,
> 
> Jim Nitzberg   WX3B  
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Mark Rosenthal <marksro at comcast.net>
> To: Carroll County Amateur Radio Club <k3pzn-list at mailman.qth.net> 
> Sent: Monday, June 5, 2017 9:19 PM
> Subject: Re: [K3PZN-List] presentations
> 
> 
> 
> Andy-
> I have a question that may be a good topic.  Or the answer may be so simple as to not warrant an entire meeting.
> 
> My current station consists of a radio, and a wire dipole.  Pretty basic.  The wife is allowing me a tower at our next house (moving in a year or so now that the kids are all out).  So I need to decide how to select the correct antennas.  From what I read in “the books”, proper beam height is 1.25 wavelengths.  But looking online what I see are many stations with a single tower/antenna, a multi band yagi at one height.  I assume that is a compromise for cost and space.  But I am not sure.  Is there another reason I am missing?  And sometimes I see stations with a tower with a beam at a height other than 1.25 wavelength.  Why? Am I missing something?
> 
> A talk on the “best” method of setting up a station using a tower with beams, what kind of beams at what heights, and what other types of antennas (such as 80M and 160M, receive antennas, etc) would be great.
> 
> Then another talk on station equipment.  Such as antenna switching, automated band selection and sequencing to power down pre-amps, receive antennas, etc, use of filters (just for contesting/multiple transmitters at once?  Or helpful for reducing noise for DX)?  Other types of helpful electronics, etc.
> 
> I know those are pretty broad topics, but any help would be very useful.
> 
> 73
> Mark
> W3MSR
> 
> 
>> On Jun 4, 2017, at 10:16 PM, Andrew Leeds <wo3l at comcast.net> wrote:
>> 
>> All,
>> We've had a number of interesting pretensions over the last few months. July's presentation by Pete, WV3S, is the last one currently scheduled.   Any volunteers for August and into the fall?   Questions that can be turned into topics are welcome too.
>> 
>> 73,
>> Andy
>> 
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> 
>> 73 de K3PZN Westminster, MD
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> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> 
> 73 de K3PZN Westminster, MD
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> 73 de K3PZN Westminster, MD
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