Another thank you to everyone that helped with my antenna question. I decided
to relay my results...all good.
I stopped by radio shack (the closest electronics store I have) and picked up
supplies for a twin lead jpole. I decided to give it a try since it seemd
portable enough. I got some twinlead for a few bucks and a 12 foot piece of
coax with BNC connectors on it. I figured I'd cut it to size...if I messed
one up, I'd still have the other side! I'll tell you, I must have bought
kevlar encased 300Ohm twin lead! That stuff was difficult to cut! I used
directions someone sent. The difficult part was soldering the feed line to
the jpole. I need more practice...perhaps I'll make another. I had one
problem, which I am confused by. My wife listens to the scanner and said that
when I transmitted on the jpole, the transmission would buzz. (After I made
the antenna). Since then, I haven't had the problem. The directions said to
add a ferrite choke to the feed line. When I remove the choke, the buzz
doesn't occur.
I hung the jpole up in my study turned on the HT (hooked up to my little
portable baycom BP multimode and toshiba laptop. Bingo! Better reception. I
picked up a few more stations in my area.
But, I had to try the ground plane made with the SO-239. Sooooo, I picked up
some copper wire scraps from a building project that is taking place where I
work (got about 10 feet of electrical wire for free...I just got to take it
out of the tubing and strip it). Voila! I had lost several of the messages I
received on the ground plane, so I looked through my ARRL "Now You're Talking"
book and found the instructions for the ground plane.
I went down to radio shack, picked up an SO-239 (probably cost $2.00). I
already had a 6foot piece of coax with BNC connectors on it...didn't have to
buy that. But, I needed something to elminate any poor soldering skills of
mine. I got a connector for the SO-239 that lets me attach the BNC cable.
Construction was a little laborious! Very cumberson, buy easy. I was able to
find some scrap copper grommets that fit (EXACTLY) into the hole that would
give me good solder points for my radials. I didn't have any screws small
enough to attach the radials to the SO-239. It worked perfectly! I put a
small bead of solder at the top of the antenna, looped some 25lb fishing line
below the bead and hung it off the ceiling in my study. BINGO! I saw twice
as much traffic! I even made a decent connection to a BBS about 20 miles away
at 2.5Watts!! What is interesting is that I found that the antenna works best
in a very peculiar location in my study. I need to look up the RF guidlines
on that. The 6 foot BNC feed line cable works best.
Now, I have not transmitted in voice mode yet....I have done all packet mode
because that was my original problem...poor reception. But, I am assuming
(never assume... ;) that everything should be ok. I have a SWR Watt meter
combo I bought from MFJ that connects to the top of my HT-202. I am just a mm
or so off of 1:1 Pretty good I think.
I have a question though. Does it hurt the antenna if I bend the tip into a
small loop so I can hang it? I decided not to take a chance and I used a bead
of solder...so monofiliment line could cinche up against it...works well. I
guess I would have to say that my ground plane with a 6 foot feed line gets
the best performance. But, I love the jpole... ;) looks great!
I would say building both antennas cost LESS than $10.00. Pretty good! I
will probably make another 146Mhz tuned ground plane that can be
dismantled...I found some good screws to use for the radials and the SO-239.
Also, does anyone know what the rules/laws are about FCC licensed amteurs
transmitting from Canada? I will be travelling to Ontario in August on a
fishing trip...out in the middle of nowhere....going to be nice. But, I'd
like to try a few contacts. Do I have to get a reciprical license from
Canada?
Thanks
Ted, KB9RPD
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