--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 188 HAM TECH Ref: EEP00002 Date: 10/19/97 From: ROB DENNIS Time: 11:12pm \/To: JEFF EDMONSON (Read 1 times) Subj: TVI/RFI.... >> None are interested in pursuing it,nor in trying to help me resolve it. >> I am going to let it sit as it is and use the large beams for TV. JE> heh. I guess the Cable company up there can be glad it's not in either New JE> York or California... there'd be some kinda action taken against 'em, nd JE> you can bet that the AFL-CIO would be right in there, as well. Won't work here. We have no legal group per-se who will jump in a scream at the CATV people on our behalf. Best to let them keep their service and take the TVI from me. >> Talked to a `big cheese' in the head office. >> He said they would `investigate ' and find out >> and still no response from them about their findings. >> Guess he's busy taking care of it... JE> yeah, right. Holding yer breath? No. More complaints from others around me are in the works after the did some main trunkline work this past weekened and cut the whole area off-line for 8-12 hours. >> JE> Kenwood TR-9000, multi-mode VHF 10w transciever. Now, to get busy >> I used to have one of those! It was my first 2m all- JE> I've been using it in the car, and now I've gotten a couple of people to JE> listen up for me on 2m at 144.200 USB when I'm mobil. Guess I do need o JE> get up a yagi, point it East and talk to Houston. Unfortunaly, I've found JE> out that while there are -lots- of VHF all mode rigs in this area, noone JE> seems to operate there. And, when the band opens up, there they all re, JE> on ONE freq, and NO ONE ever moves up or down. 144.200 is IT, as far as JE> they're concerned. Same story here. There are about 25 Icom IC-706 all-modes floating around localy,many of them are parked on 2m FM (one repeater only),some on HF and the rest on 11m!!! NONE of these rigs save for maybe two have ever used 6m FM on the repeater here,let alone ssb or cw. The same can also be said for 2m ssb use and the 706. The only time I hear a flood of ssb on 2m,6m and 70cm is when someone says the bands are open over a repeater or the contests are running on VHF/UHF. Makes me wonder why people would spend $1795 CDN on a multi-mode radio that only gets used on 2m FM,HF or 11m and NEVER ON 6m!! >> and had some of the same features too. (RIT,dual VFO's >> for odd-splits,memories) JE> yeah, think there's 5 memories, but it's small in size - definatly a mobil JE> radio. There was an option to make it a base. The base-stand option would keep your memories alive from a constant DC power source,the extension speaker plugged into the base then the radio,and the DC supply was around 10 amps. Looked like a mini HF rig with all the options added to it. >> I sold mine to get something newer (TM-255A) as the >> 9000 did not have a CTCSS encode/decode option for it. JE> Y'know, I was looking at the back of that rig - it's got a three-pronged JE> jack for the input of a T-pad - suppose that's a Tone-pad? Does the audio JE> from there go straight to the mixer stage in the IF? Yes. The tone pad was external and plugged into the 3 prong circular jack on the rear panel. The triangular shaped jack was for DC power from the optional base stand and power supply. Not sure how the audio path runs Jeff,mine came with an older Kenwood DTMF mic of an FM only mobile for making patches. The 6 pin Kenwood microphone plug is the same one that the RCI2950 and Cobra series of radios used. You should be able to find it at most any electronics supply shop or amateur radio dealer. >> Nice little rig for a field-day or rover set-up,just >> add an outboard amplifier to get you up to 100w or so >> into a beam and you're all set. JE> That's something else I need to get - had a 5w in, 80w out VHF mplifier. JE> I'd mount that thing in the trunk of the car after modification. Diawa and Mirage both make a small 5 watt in 45 watt out amp that will do both FM and SSB with a built in recieve pre-amp. The cost for a small amp will be around $100-$150 depending which one you et and what features it has. JE> Ultimatly, what I'd like the Mirage 1016B. 10w in, 160 out, FM/CW/SSB JE> capable. One for the house, one for the car. GLUTTON! (G!!) I have a Diawa model 2180 amp for 2m FM and SSB that takes as little as 1w to drive it to full output of 185w. The input can be from 1w up to 45w by way of a switchable attenuator on the rear panel to select HT or mobile power drive. Has a recieve pre-amp for FM or SSB/cw use,and a Hi/Lo power select on the front panel. High is full out,185w out at 1w to 45w drive and low is 100w out at the same setting. At 185w out this amp sucks back a healthy 35-40 amps at 13.8 DC to keep it toasting along. Big enough when fired into a 13 element at 35 feet? Plenty for me. I did try it mobile once but the car kept stalling out at 185w output,and he dash display went all nuts from the generated RF magnetic field so I keep it at home. --- GoldED 2.42.G1219 * Origin: VE3SJN....Moderator....HAM_TECH (1:163/506.4) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 188 HAM TECH Ref: EEP00003 Date: 10/19/97 From: ROB DENNIS Time: 11:37pm \/To: ROY WITT (Read 1 times) Subj: your Ts 520 RD>> hard-earned dollars on a radio or options for it then goes RD>> finger-poking into a perfectly working piece of gear. If it RD>> ain't broke DON'T F!@# WITH IT! RW> Well, the factory didn't design it right, so some ham has to stick his RW> fingers in there and fix it...:) If they didn't design it right why buy it? RD>> One poor fool paid $300 for a `mint' condition FT-101-E only to RD>> find that the 10 and 12m bands had crystals in them allowing RW> Right. However, if the buyer were smart, he would get the name and hone RW> number of the seller. He just might have those crystals laying around n RW> his desk some where. I know I've got the 11mtr crystals for the 520 in my RW> rock collection. No such luck. The previous owner bought it that way and the guy he bought off of is an SK. RW>>> How many TV-502's have you found? I've been looking for one of RD>> None. RD>> Rare as the transverters for the Yaesu FT-101 series for 2m and RW> Me either. If there is one for sale, it's usually in a set and the seller RW> won't sell it unless he sells the rig with it. Funny, I'd think he ould RW> sell the transverter in hopes of getting rid of the radio later. Same here. Most who have them won't part with them and those that want to sell want you to take the radio -and- any other transverter with it. And the prices asked are close to the -new- cost of the gear when bought. RD>> any radio for a VHF/UHF band I was going to be active on from RD>> the home had to be an all-mode one rather than FM only. RW> Since most of my operating is on UHF FM, I don't have any multimode radios RW> except for the 520. For FM I use a 732A mobile hooked to a dual-band groundplane. The multi-mode rigs rarely,if ewver,come onto FM,they are usually on 144.200 and 50.125 on SSB listening for band openings. I use a 11m ssb rig to listen for possible 10m or 6m openings and as thunder storm-watcher when I'm on FM. RD>> I may yet get a transverter for 220MHz and feed it with a 28MHz RD>> If from one of my 10m rigs as the 220 all-mode gear is dear and RD>> -very- pricey here. RW> I've got one radio that covers 220. Since the FCC gave part of the band RW> away, I've noticed a big decline in the useage. 220 FM only rigs are non-existant here. 220 all-modes are dear in price and most who have them won't sell. Icom once made a complete suite of five all-mode rigs for 6m,2m,220,70cm and 1.2Ghz,but those are even more rare to find a complete set of. And harder to get a deal on as many won't sell them. RD>> Have you tried any of the old Turner desk mics? RW> Yes, I didn't like them as well as the D-104... RW> My Astatic doesn't have a pre-amp, it's just a plain old crystal RW> microphone. Fed into the 520's speech processor, it works exceptionally RW> well. Ok. Many of the D-104's I have heard on HF sound like the Silver-Eagle style of pre-amps. VERY loud and they pick up everything within 30 feet of the mic when you transmit. RD>> I may go as much as $50 CDN for the non-amplified MC-50 or -60 RW> I'll keep my eyes open.. Thanks Roy. --- GoldED 2.42.G1219 * Origin: VE3SJN....Moderator....HAM_TECH (1:163/506.4) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 188 HAM TECH Ref: EEP00004 Date: 10/19/97 From: ROB DENNIS Time: 11:48pm \/To: ALL (Read 1 times) Subj: Towers Part 1 Original article from: Wayne Sarosi Reposted by Rob Dennis,Moderator HAM_TECH,for use of the FIDO HAM_TECH echo. THIS POST/SERIES NOT TO BE USED IN ANY CDROM COMPILATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL SALE WITHOUT EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF ORIGINAL AUTHOR(S) OF THIS POST. ALL AND ANY COPYRIGHTS RETAINED BY AUTHOR(S). SUBJECT: Tower modifications for redistributing antenna windloads. Many Amateur Radio Operators are restricted to a maximum size antenna ecause of the limitations their towers have. The windload rating can cut a dream antenna in half because the tower is rated for something about the size of a ten meter beam. But,that's all you an afford so you take your lumps and settle for something less than you wanted. I had that problem and decided to do something about it. o I could purchase a larger tower. (BTW I finally had one given to me. It's still in the back yard). o Find a way to get the weight off the tower and on the ground. (Put the dynimite away!). Looking at the lastest ads,then looking in my wallet,then at my wife and ids then again at my 9-in triangular crank up and 22-ft beam,then back at my ife, I decided to to the latter of the two (gulp). How in the world was I going to relieve the weight from the tower and still keep my beam up at the same height? That 9-in trangular crank-up wasn't going to cut it in heavy winds. It was an accident waiting to happen. At that point I was working on my "I need a better tower" speech to my wife and remembered some of my statics and dynamics from college. I checked on a couple of examples in the book and found that my idea would work. The solution? A drive shaft/bearing modification. With the rotor moved to base of the tower and a vertical bearing set situated just above the otor. The rotor would have no downward thrust upon it. All it would have to do is turn the shaft. The bearings turned out to be easier then planned. Edmond Scientific Catalog had Lazy-Susan bearing sets for sale. I purchased the 1000-lb table type for about $6.50 each. After packing them in grease,I was ready to install them. The drive shaft can be a pair of push-up masts for crank-up towers or water pipe for fixed towers. The shaft is guyed within the tower by PVC tubing. Each tube is about 2-3 feet in length and I used three per forty feet. The shaft pokes out the top for antenna mounting. In my case,two sections of the push-up mast poked out the top allowing me to work and mount a few HF/UHF antennas. Here's the basic set-up: =================== 2m beam || || ====================================== HF beam || || |||| - PVC tubing over shaft inside tower |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |BB| - Bearing |||| |RR| - Rotor location -------|--|-------- o The rotor only turns the shaft - no weight on the rotor. o The vertical weight is transformed to the bearing near the bottom. o The weight of the antennas are on the shaft instead of the tower. o The towers sole purpose is to guy the shaft and the forces directed to the tower are distributed along the tower's length. This system has been working here for over two years. -WS --- GoldED 2.42.G1219 * Origin: VE3SJN....Moderator....HAM_TECH (1:163/506.4) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 188 HAM TECH Ref: EEP00005 Date: 10/19/97 From: ROB DENNIS Time: 11:49pm \/To: ALL (Read 1 times) Subj: Towers Part 2 Original article from: Wayne Sarosi Reposted by Rob Dennis,Moderator HAM_TECH,for use of the FIDO HAM_TECH echo. THIS POST/SERIES NOT TO BE USED IN ANY CDROM COMPILATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL SALE WITHOUT EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF ORIGINAL AUTHOR(S) OF THIS POST. ALL AND ANY COPYRIGHTS RETAINED BY AUTHOR(S). SUBJECT: Towers,part two Towers are an interesting subject where antennas are concerned. We have the commercial types which can cost you a bundle. Then there are the cheap-o second (fifth) hand towers older than most hams, that we buy which,at best,offer a shakey support if not reworked properly. Antenna supports come in various flavors from trees,to push-up masts,to full blown,motorized,telescoping,hundred footers capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound. All are good depending on what you use them for. A tower rated for 10 sq.ft windload should be adhered to order to save your equipment. An antenna and rotor system mounted on top of a a tower can put a heavy torque (twisting action) on the tower. Some towers and masts can't ake that torque and they crumble. There are ways to by-pass that problem and they will be discussed later. Guy lines can be a pain in the butt also. Metal guys can play havoc with various bands and ropes stretch. These will be looked into also. I reposted my first tower article based on some problems I have had here. I won't be able to cover everything but I have a few friends that have some interesting towers that I will share with you. AREAS TO BE COVERED: o Trees o Wooden towers o Push-up masts o Tubular towers o Small Steel Crank-ups (7 & 9-in tri-angulars) o Rohns o Commercial Grade o Monster Crank-ups o Roof mounts o Tilt-overs o Trouble spots -WS --- GoldED 2.42.G1219 * Origin: VE3SJN....Moderator....HAM_TECH (1:163/506.4) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 188 HAM TECH Ref: EEP00006 Date: 10/19/97 From: ROB DENNIS Time: 11:49pm \/To: ALL (Read 1 times) Subj: Towers Part 3 Original article from: Wayne Sarosi Reposted by Rob Dennis,Moderator HAM_TECH,for use of the FIDO HAM_TECH echo. THIS POST/SERIES NOT TO BE USED IN ANY CDROM COMPILATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL SALE WITHOUT EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF ORIGINAL AUTHOR(S) OF THIS POST. ALL AND ANY COPYRIGHTS RETAINED BY AUTHOR(S). SUBJECT: Tower Series,part 3 TREES: Trees have been used as antenna supports for years. There are some problems though. Trees grow,they have leaves or needles,they sway and are probably the greatest target for lightning than any man made device. I have used trees for an antenna support many times. In my CB days,I cut the top off an oak tree in Connecticut,35 feet up,and used chimney straps to hold a mast for a 'Starduster' quarter wave antenna. Here in Florida, I use a palm and a sycamore for a DX-A (40,80,& 160) and he same sycamore and a small maple for my 40 IVee. Both are fed from my tower. I have a pulley system to raise the antenna I need for specific operations. * sycamore ----------------------------------------- | | | | | | | |X tower | | |--------------------| | | | |------------------| * palm * maple <--------North Trees must be cared for when attaching support lines. Too tight and you can strangle the branch or worse, the tree. Never use a dead tree. They're an accident in the making. Beams in trees are not a good idea. Getting them up there is a pain in the butt to say the least save a crane. Constant upward growth interferes with he pattern and the ability to turn them thus requiring pruning. Pray you don't have a problem like bad SWR,bent elements,or a water soaked trap. I would suggest keeping trees for verticals or tie off points. ------------------------------------------------------------------ WOODEN TOWERS: These can be interesting. They are heavy,can rot,and don't stand much for he weather. Wooden towers are subject to many enemies such as bugs,birds,and rain. The sun can dry on out in two seasons. A wooden tower creaking in a 50 mph storm can give an amateur nightmares. They are expensive to build with todays pricing on wood. Simple fold-over wooden towers such as a flagpole design,can be done if the materials are availble at a resonable price. || || || || || || || || ||||||<--- pivot point |||||| |||||| ||||||<--- Locking pin (bolt) || || || || This set up can be done in a day with the right materials. The main pole can be pulled up with a pick-up or car. A stop bar is recommended so you don't pull the main section over with the vehicle. Place the stop bar just above he locking pin and bolt it into the main section but not the supports. It also can be cranked up with a boat winch from the bottom. -WS --- GoldED 2.42.G1219 * Origin: VE3SJN....Moderator....HAM_TECH (1:163/506.4) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 188 HAM TECH Ref: EEP00007 Date: 10/19/97 From: ROB DENNIS Time: 11:49pm \/To: ALL (Read 1 times) Subj: Towers Part 4 Original article from: Wayne Sarosi Reposted by Rob Dennis,Moderator HAM_TECH,for use of the FIDO HAM_TECH echo. THIS POST/SERIES NOT TO BE USED IN ANY CDROM COMPILATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL SALE WITHOUT EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF ORIGINAL AUTHOR(S) OF THIS POST. ALL AND ANY COPYRIGHTS RETAINED BY AUTHOR(S). SUBJECT: Tower Series,part 4 PUSH_UP MASTS: This is an inexpensive way to raise small HF beams,HF verticals and HF wire antennas. It is also a good support for VHF and UHF beams and omnis. The best push-up mast I have found for the money is the mast sold by Radio Shack. They may sell different brands of masts around the country,but the nes in Florida are excellent. The masts come with guy tie-off points at each section,cotter pin holes (change the pins out for bolts) and hand operated locking screws. Some of the good points are cost, ease of installation, easy care,and easy transport. They also make good tower drive-shafts. Some bad points,they can fold over in a storm with a beam on board,they are good lightning rods,once kinked,they're not worth a plug nickel. Overall,the push-up mast has probably made it to more field days than any other type of transported support in the history of ham radio. It's a good support that will last many years and serve the amateur well.