Temporary antenna setup success

So, after all the planning the temporary antenna setup was a success, and today I was able to verify that my T2LT was indeed working and getting out fine, however I felt the mast would have been better guyed, as it is a temporary setup the guys would have to be removed each time the antenna was to come down, this is the next thing to work on.

So, the T2LT was confirmed working on UK19 after I got confirmation after doing the traditional "one nine for a rig check" on CB, I then turned my attention to EU27 USB to place calls, both before and after I went outside with the rig, however the band was completely dead, but at least I know my T2LT is working great, with the SWR on the antenna in the range of 1.5 on the meter or below this, making my life simple, the whole setup was removed within about 10 minutes and reduced back to component parts, the base and aluminium mast stay in a shed out the way as this part is the heaviest and transporting it up the stairs is a no-no, the rest of the antenna is in the flat, this being the T2LT itself, the fibreglass mast, and all the needed mounting hardware, which in this case was a bungee cord and some cable ties, but the news that it had indeed worked has made my day and the T2LT is ready for test number two, involving someone sitting in my "shack" operating the CB (again the Grant II) while I drive around with another CB with a reliable S-meter in the car (I can use either my Midland 42 Multi, Midland 78 Plus Multi B, or my Intek H-520 Plus as these all have reliable s-meters, the Moonraker FA5000 does not have a reliable s-meter at all and the TTI TCB-550 has no S-meter.

So, I finally know the T2LT works, but was not able to find out just how good it was working, I will update this in due course

73 de 26CT730

temporary antenna follow up

So, I have had to travel all the way to Bishop Auckland today in order to obtain a parasol base for temporary mounting of my fibreglass mast (which may fit in the base but may not which is why I bought an extra mast), the base in question is made of 25kg of cement, and is supplied with 4 castor type wheels fitted with brakes, and assembling this thing was a case of screw in the centre and fit the castors to slide in mounts on the underside.

Other accessories I needed was two crimp-on BNC plugs which I have already fitted to a piece of coax thin enough to get through the window in case it gets a bit nippy outside and I want to shut the window, a 10-metre RG58 lead already fitted with PL259 plugs and supplied with SO239 to BNC, SO239 to SMA and SO239 to N-type though I cannot see why I'd need an N-type connector right now, I obtained these all from Maplin Electronics at Teesside Park along with a hex crimp tool for the connectors (though my work has one of these I'd rather have one myself anyway as I intend to move on to crimp on PL259s as the other solder-on type are a pain to work with and more often than not it's a waste of time to solder the braid, I've found both to work find and never have gone off the air.

Testing the newly assembled thin jumper lead with BNCs required adaptors and my trusty 50-watt rated dummy load, which today for the first time completely failed due to a dry joint on the SO239, a bit of solder later and it works again, the cable was tested on both amateur frequencies (specifically 2 meters and 70cm) and CB, it seems to cause the SWR to rise a little but to be honest there is not much in it when used on CB, on 2-metres the SWR needle does not move, and on 70cm it moves as much as it does on 27MHz so a slight mismatch but I can live with it until I can think of a better way to run a coax through a double-glazed window,

The fibreglass mast and T2LT have not been erected and this may take place tomorrow as it is starting to get late now and of course I want to get dinner, in the mean time I may reconnect my 2-meter dipole to the Leixen and see if anyone is on the repeater, if I have one I may dig out a higher current PSU and see if running my CRT SS9900 will cause any issues, if not I should be good to go

73 de M6RSQ/26CT730

T2LT revisited

I've been on an antenna theme recently, what with both a Slim Jim and a 2-meter dipole written about (the latter being made, the former an idea I can put to some use), and I continue with a favourite CB antenna of mine, the T2LT, the person who made the original video showing how to build this antenna, Gary 26CTX104, remade the video into a two-parter where he went into a little more detail and built another T2LT, it turns out the video was published well over a year ago and I'd not done a lot of CB at that point and was just starting out on Amateur radio, but CB is a bit of fun now and again but some good contacts can be made on 11 meters depending on the solar cycle amongst other things.

So, as you will know I already have a T2LT antenna built, and have tried it out but using only 4 watts into it (perhaps less on battery powered rigs as these radios are designed to run on 13.8V DC whereas my sealed battery is about 12 volts and a pack of AA batteries don't deliver much for long, handhelds are not counted here) though conditions were not favourable for me

So, the plan is this, get the antenna up on my fibreglass mast, inserted into a parasol base or attached to a secondary mast (no more than 1.5 meters) that will fit a parasol base (this avoids planning constraints as the antenna can be removed with relative ease), run a feeder to my "shack", plug the Grant II into it with my good SWR meter for CB in line (I have 3 CB meters and one VHF/UHF meter) and check to see how well it is tuned up, and try and make some CB QSOs (using my CT call if it is still valid which it should be), naturally I will be carrying out some other tests, I just need a volunteer to sit in the "shack" to transmit, as it's CB and anyone can use it without needing a license, for that test the CB magmount will go on my current car connected to the car adaptor of one of my handhelds, the Intek H-520 would be ideal for this as it has a large readable S-meter over the Midland Alan 42 Multi, though both have an S-meter.

So, I am keen to give this a go so Saturday will be a shopping day for some bits

73 de 26CT730

2-meter dipole revisited

Yesterday I dug out my homebrew dipole for 2-meters, and the dipole centre I bought from the Blackpool Rally and reassembled the dipole onto it, this was then hung up but the SWR was reading high, between 2 and 3 on the meter with the radio (the Leixen VV-898) at 10 watts, not good, moving it seems to have brought the SWR back down to the 1.7 it was at, still not brilliant but at least it's below dangerous levels for now, I suspect it's being affected by objects indoors and is best placed outdoors however the centre is not waterproofed and I have no means to hang it outdoors yet, my plan is to waterproof the centre with self amalgamating tape (another yet used Blackpool purchase) and put it onto my fibreglass mast and see what it can really do, the mast won't be extended to full-height as it is in need of TLC but it still has sufficient height to get out, this will give me a much more reliable SWR reading.

For the fibreglass mast to work as intended it needs to be fitted into a base, a parasol base from a DIY store should suffice here, I do need to make sure this tuning is done before I tape up the centre in case I need to do any more work so a dry day for the first run, if we even have a summer this year, would be good, and I could potentially put a Slim Jim on here later and save the dipole for other work, I could also put a lightweight Yagi on here, as I still wish to operate CB (my Grant II is in the shack for this very reason) I can put my T2LT on here, assuming it still works which it should do, on 2-meters I should be able to get out much further on the dipole so more simplex calls should be possible, I have no antenna for 10 meters despite having the rig for the job which may be the next antenna I work on, and with the mast on a parasol base it makes it temporary therefore should get around planning permissions, so let's see what I can get away with antenna wise.

73 de M6RSQ

Slim Jim antenna revisited

As you may be aware, I built a Slim Jim antenna for 2 meters at the club sometime over a year ago but left it on the floor in my hallway for some time so I think it suffered damage and put the SWR above safe levels, upon suggestions from two other club members I intend to build another Slim Jim, after finding some instructions on the Internet, out of 450 Ohm ladder line, with the antenna enclosed in conduit either in a dark colour or painted in wood stain to blend in with my windows(the new windows are a dark wood effect outside) as the intention is this antenna is put outside, I've seen instructions that suggest to use a clip-on ferrite to stop common-mode currents but I may use the tried and tested choke approach instead.

I plan to get the feeder for this antenna into the flat by using a short piece of thin coax through the window so it will still shut, and running a short length of RG213 inside to keep the losses down, rig wise at the moment will be my Leixen VV-898 until I obviously get something that can do SSB as well, at the moment my rig purchasing priority is for the Yaesu FTM-100DE for the car and a replacement 2/70 antenna as the small one I currently have isn't brilliant and I'd rather have something improved for System Fusion, though I might try this out on the Slim Jim before it goes in the car assuming I get this antenna built and up before the rig is ordered (or bought from the Hamfest in September)

Before I do this I need to make sure my "shack" is in order again which I can spend tomorrow doing as it's a Bank Holiday, then I'll move on to getting hold of the parts I need

73 de M6RSQ

Temporary mobile setup

I have a temporary mobile setup for 2m/70cm in the car, although it's also impractical, so probably use it for repeaters, this consists of my Baofeng UV-5RC Plus, the battery eliminator I picked up from Blackpool on Sunday and the speaker mic I also picked up from Blackpool, the drawback is this setup can only produce 5 watts on 2 meters, maybe slightly less if antenna feedline losses are accounted for, the antenna does not look out of place on my current car and is roughly central on the roof.

I appear able to get into GB3IR from Northallerton using this setup but I have had no reports on how well this is working.

This setup is only temporary until I get the Yaesu FTM-100DE, though again restricted to 5 watts until I pass my intermediate, it is impractical as changing repeater or frequency can only be done at the handheld itself but it makes the best of a difficult situation, I could easily fit a cigarette lighter plug to the VV-898 but this cannot be permanently mounted in the car, the Baofeng handheld can clip on to something using its belt clip, I  can look at the options for the VV-898 another day though it needs reprogramming as it is used as a home rig.

I am happy to have a mobile setup even if it is just a stop gap

73 de M6RSQ

Blackpool Rally - post rally

As mentioned in my previous post I visited the Blackpool rally today at the Norbreck Castle Hotel, some changes from last time were I was able to park the car immediately in the main car park, I was also informed about bacon sandwiches on sale in the rally and me being a fan of the bacon sandwich soon sniffed these out and had a cup of tea with one, then onto the rally itself, the usual junk stalls, some of the well known traders, and, of course, the local clubs of the north west of England, and yet again I did not speak to any of them to find out what they were doing in the world of Amateur radio.

I did not leave the rally empty handed either, this time I left with two rolls of self-amalgamating tape as I've been meaning to get some for quite some time, a wire dipole centre, a speaker-mic for my handhelds, and a battery eliminator for my Baofeng UV-5RC Plus so I can use it in the car (the antenna is on the car roof at the moment).

So, next year, a preliminary date is the 9th April so yes I am going

73 de M6RSQ