Simple Ham Radio Antennas

Because of work requirements, I was unable to participate in this year's ARRL Field Day.  From what I could deduce in casual listening, Hawaii Island Amateurs had fun from several locations, ranging from the Kamehameha Schools Hawaii Campus to the stunningly beautiful Laupahoehoe Point State Park.  In the past, I've participated in the Laupahoehoe Beach Park operation, since it's only 3 miles from the qth.  Dean Manley, KH6B, usually runs battery power with an array of verticals and sterba curtain arrays cut for 10 and 15 meters.  His verticals do pretty well so close to the ocean.  Speaking of antennas, the 26 June installment of the eham.net website has an interesting EMT vertical by Marcos Antonio Veloz Burgos, HI8MVW.  I've used variations on this theme several times, and like Marcos, I've used RG-6 TV cable for the feedline.  Results are quite good on 20, 15, and 10 meters.  Give this design a try and see what you can do....

The news cycle is winding down at KKBG-FM/ KHLO-AM for the workweek.  Only half-days on Saturday and Sunday remain on the horizon. The break will give me plenty of time to work on my spartan "antenna farm" at the Laupahoehoe qth.  With my tropical climate and salt air, there is always something to do for the skyhooks.  Be- sides, the work gives me a break from the rather dismal series of events that is making everyday life more difficult than it should be.  I just finished an excellent article on the eham.net website by Phil Chambley, K4DPK, entitled "Your First Dipole."  Phil's article is a basic tutorial on an antenna that has served me well in the past. You can expand his idea into a "fan" dipole and get some added coverage for very little money. I may even string up one of his simple dipoles as an inverted vee and see what I can do.  My yard won't permit a fully extended dipole, hence my pref- erence for verticals and low slu...

Things are winding down at the KKBG-FM/KHLO news room after a peaceful weekend news cycle.  I use that term loosely, considering the various crises the world is facing. I'll leave the value judgements to those polically inclinded. All I do is report the news.  Once the Sunday shift is done and the story outlines for Monday prepared, I can return to the home shack for some casual operating before dinner and a good night's sleep.  I've finished some minor repairs to the 20-meter vertical dipole and the under the house 40-meter loop.  Both antennas are working well, propagation notwith- standing.  Just for a few laughs, I hooked up the loop to one of my homebrew crystal sets.  Pretty good results.  I was able to recieve all three Hilo AM stations with ease.  The Hilo stations are roughly 30 miles away from the commercial station I call "home" most of the time.  The 20-meter vertical dipole works for these crystal sets, too.  ...

'Just about ready to wrap up a week in the KKBG-FM/ KHLO-AM news room.  I've had sufficient excitement for the week with all of the stories on the oil spill, the Middle East crisis, and assorted local crime stories The weekend news shift begins on Saturday, but that shift is only for half-a-day, so the hours won't be too bad.  At least I have an enjoyable job.  Field Day beckons on 26/27 June--an event I will probably miss since I'm working the drag races that day.  I'll probably operate a bit from the home station, running 1E (emergency power).  While I was reading the eham.net site today, I found two Field Day articles that may prove useful to you or your radio club:  "900 Watt Generator for Field Day" by Mike Higgins, K6AER and "How to Come Back After Field Day" by Keith Wood, K1LDS.  Both articles contain some good, basic information.  Have a good weekend.  Aloha from Hawaii Island. KH6JRM.

This has been a fairly calm Saturday in the KKBG-FM and KHLO-AM news room.  I need a quiet day now and then.  Other than the Middle East crisis and the Gulf oil spill, things are alright. My deepest sympthies to our Gulf of Mexico friends--what a gawsh awful mess, both ecologically and economically.  With all this going on, the hurricane season has just begun. The station has been keeping Big Islanders informed on what to do and how to prepare themselves for what is expected to be an active storm season.  With that in mind, how well prepared are you? When I get home after my shift, I'll make sure all batteries are charged, spare antennas made, and the generator fully fueled.  I've got a good stock of food and the ole Tercel is topped off in fuel. Hopefully, the storms will miss you.  Have a good weekend. Aloha from the Big Island. 73. KH6JRM.

Now that the Memorial Day celebrations are over, I can return to some degree of "normalcy" at the KKBG-FM/KHLO-AM news room.  Of course, normal has all kinds of meaning in the news business, ranging from the usual crimes, crises, and weather changes to the bizarre stuff that crops up during the day. You wou't believe the number of strange calls I get before, during, and after holidays.  Anyway, I'll be able to squeeze in a few hours of operating this weekend.  Time at the old Swan 100 MX will provide the needed atitude adjustment from the near crisis mode that grips the news cycle.  On the docket for this weekend is further work on the 20- meter vertical dipole and minor repairs to the under the house loop that does the majority of local con- tacts.  I really enjoy getting out in the back yard and working with wire and portable masts.  I don't know if I'll be working with the Big Island Amateur Radio Club during the upcoming Field Day even...

Things are quiet at the KKBG-FM/KHLO-AM news room on this Memorial Day.  I just finished an exciting 2 days at the Hilo Drag Strip where the Big Island Auto Club celebrated the 40th edition of the Memorial Day Drags.  The station has broadcast coverage of the drag racing season for 27 years and that falls under my job description.  Extensive use of the FRS (family radio service) and MURS (multi use radio service) is used at the track to maintain contact with the tower, pit areas, drivers, security, and track crew.  Low power UHF FRS radios (0.5 watt TPO) and VHF MURS radios (2 watts TPO) give those of us in the tower a good 1.5 to 2.0 mile range.  The track also has a legal, 100mw AM station for the fans, who can tune in on the tower chatter at 1610 kHz. The 8' whip is on top of the tower and gives a decent signal out to a mile.  My reports are cell-phoned to the station (4 miles away) for broadcast.  Racing fans may want to get ...