[PPRAANet] Attic Antenna for 4W HT

[W0XLD]

Good demonstration there, Steve.

Lee, if you are interested in starting with a little more power, I
direct your attention to the December issue of QST Magazine, in which
the ARRL has now tested and reviewed the Radioddity GA-510 handheld
transceiver. Like many Chinese products, the manufacturer is falsely
advertising it as a ten-watt unit. However, they (and all Youtube
reviewers) are reporting that it *can* truly emit 8 watts, which doubles
the power of your UV-5R.

The most notable thing is that, for the first time ever, a Baofeng-built
radio *does* now pass the requirement for spurious emissions at -60 dB
below the primary! This thing is now technically legal on the ham bands!
Woot!

So, of course, being addicted to new radios but also being a cheapskate,
I had to buy one. It's here, and yes, the user interface is very much
like the Baofeng, with a few improvements (like more characters on the
screen, so the menu choices now make a little more sense). The audio
sounds good, both on transmit and receive.

So, if you're looking for a cheap all-arounder, that can push a little
more power up a piece of coaxial cable, I will recommend this new
Radioddity GA-510 that was just reviewed in QST.

* 8 watts output on VHF

* Even cheaper than the Yaesu's cheapest HT, the FT-4X

* Comes with programming cable

* Comes with TWO batteries

* Legal on ham bands (finally!) with -60 dB spurious emissions

* Familiar to Baofeng owners (actually built by Baofeng to Radioddity's
specifications)

* Supported by Radioddity, a US company

This is the radio I plan to buy as a first radio for kids who pass their
technician exam. And with a few extra watts, it will be a little better
for experimentation with attic antennas.

Of course, being a ham is more than just operating appliances; it's
still all about the antenna... so I hope you will have fun designing the
best feed and antenna system your budget and space permits, regardless
of whether you decide to upgrade the radio!

Have fun, and happy Thanksgiving!

LD / W0XLD

On 11/25/20 2:27 PM, Steve KT0DX wrote:
> Lee just did some calculations for you and here are some numbers to
> look at.
>
> RG8X  if you have a 1:1 SWR to the antenna at 146MHZZ and you feed 4
> watts to the antenna you will have 2.496 watts at the antenna.  This
> is a 38% loss
>
> RG8X at 146MHZ  and a SWR at 1.5 will give you 2.43 watts at the
> antenna. This is a 39% loss
>
> RG8X at 146MHZ and a SWR of 2:1 will give you 2.322 watts at the
> antenna.  This is a 43% los
>
> RG8X at 440MHZ and a 1:1 SWR will give you 1.56 watts at the antenna. 
> This is a 61% loss.
>
> If you want to do the calculations on the use of other feed lines you
> can go to:    kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/
>
> Recommend larger high grade coax and consider another radio other then
> HT unless you can reach the repeaters you are interested in.
>
> Steve (KT0DX)
>
> On 11/25/2020 18:53, Lee Davis wrote:
>> Thanks for all the individual responses. Here are the details on the
>> coax cable I was considering:
>>
>> High Quality RG-8X Premium Coax antenna cable
>> 2) UHF PL-259 male plug-
>> Great as jumpers to an antenna tuner, switch, meter or your main antenna
>> 50Ω Low-loss RG8x-mini - Fully molded
>> Nickel-plated connectors - Length: 50ft
>>
>>  From the replies, it sounds like this length should be fine to use
>> with my 4 watt UV5R Baofeng HT without a lot of loss.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Lee
>> KF0BOB
>>
>> ------ Original Message ------
>>
>> From: Lee Email
>> To: ppraanet at mailman.qth.net
>> Sent: November 25, 2020 at 9:54 AM
>> Subject: Attic Antenna for 4W HT
>>
>> Hello, I am planning to buy an Arrow OSJ 146/440 j-pole antenna to
>> mount inside my attic. The length of the antenna should work in my
>> attic. My question is regarding the amount of coax cable to use. The
>> HT is a 4 watt unit and 50' of coax would be good to have available
>> to move the antenna to different locations if necessary. Will this
>> length of cable work with my 4 watt HT and not cause too much loss?
>> Thanks. Lee KF0BOB
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