Simple Ham Radio Antennas

This has been another busy week at the radio station news room.  With the approach of the holiday season, all of us in the "media circus" are busy with the Thanks- giving and Christmas programs, not to mention the remotes, haunted houses, and whatever else is attached to the Halloween festiviites.  No rest for the "wicked" until after the New Year.  Between all of this, I will squeeze in some quality time on the amateur bands.  Most of the simple repairs to my rapidly aging radio collection are done.  A few touchups to the ole "antenna farm" will bring the station into operating con- dition.  I'm still having fun with the Kenwood 520 I acquired a few months ago--nice rig and very for- giving of us who have forgotten the ritual of tune and dip.  If you have a chance to get an older rig from the major manuafacturers, please do so.  What they lack in convenience is compensated by the sheer pleasure of rag-chewing on the hollow-state ...

This has been a busy month in the newsroom, so my time dedicated to amateur radio has been minimal.  I will get back in the groove this weekend after some yard work around the radio ranch.  Presently, I'm working to equip my Odyssey min-van with a ham radio station.  I'm operating on 2 meters with my trusty HT, a set of solar powered gel cells, and a 1/4 wave whip positioned on the van room with a mag mount.  For now, the setup meets my immediate needs. I elected to not use the van's electrical system.  The set of gel cells in the van coupled with a set of small solar panels mounted on a side window keeps the system active.  The power demands of the HT are very small, so I have no problem of running out of juice.  Adding HF capability will be a challenge, not the least of which is the low clearance of my garage.  Most likely, I'll opt for a mag-mounted "Ham Stick" as a temporary solution.  This is not an efficient system, but i...

This has been a busy month--not much time to operate on the old Swan 100-MX.  Hawaii just experienced its primary election with  all the hoopla and news coverage that surrounds politics in Hawaii....My newsroom was a busy place for at least a week.  In more pleasant news, The Big Island Amateur Radio Club and the Hawaii QRP club hosted Russian QRP (RU QRP) club co-founder Oleg Borodin (RV3GM) and his XYL, Olga (RA3GKB) on September 11th at Hilo's Wailoa State Park.  Oleg, who serves as the Elecraft representative in Russia, was invited by Dean, KH6B, to spend a brief vacation on the Big Island and to  bring local hams up to date on amateur radio activities in Russia.  Oleg had an excellent presentation on a variety of Russian QRP expeditions, including the "Moroz" (Frost or frozen) nose competition held during the winter. Oleg also passed his U.S. Amateur Extra Exam earilier in the week (I was part of the VE team).  Oleg is a great guy ...

Today is a solemn day for those who call a radio newsroom home.  Nine years ago today I was on the early shift (in Hawaii) when the World Trade Center was hit by aircraft, re- sulting in the loss of approximately 3,000 lives. From that day forward, nothing in this nation remained unchanged.  I'll leave the diatribes and finger pointing to others, but to me, the event reinforced the need to be prepared, both in protecting our communities and in keeping amateur radio communications intact.  Since that awful day almost a decade ago, I've tried to have backup plans in place for the shack-- reserve power, spare rigs, extra wire, tools, and reference material. I've also kept a supply of food, medical supplies, fuel for the car, and money on hand just in case the integrated society we inhabit comes apart.  Preparation, training, and a positive attitude can go a long way in maintaining your sanity in a world that appears to have lost all reason and a sens...

As Labor Day winds down, yours truly will be securing the radio station news room and preparing for the coastal drive to the qth in Laupahoehoe.  The weekend was busy, with the usual parades, holiday events, and the drag races at the Hilo Drag Strip.  I'm the tower announcer for the races, an enjoyable diversion from the usual gloom and doom of the news cycle.  When I get back to the shack, I'll finish the Novice Antenna Handbook by the late Lew McCoy.  The book is a useful primer for those of us who want to erect simple, yet effective antennas at minimum cost.  On my postage stamp sized rural lot, I've erected several of his proven designs.  Currently, I'm using an under the house 40-meter loop (great for local nets) and a modified vertical, using one vertical element and one elevated counterpoise. The system is fed with 300-ohm twin lead through a 1:4 balun for 40 to 10 meter coverage.  Nothing fancy, but it does work from my Central ...

In between a few projects at the qth, I ran across an inter- esting article by Alan Vega (WA6 MOW) on the eham.net site called "HF on a limited budget", dated 26 August 2010. Much of his article resonated with my approach to Amateur Radio, especially the parts relating to serviceable older rigs and homebrew antennas for your shack.  Alan sets up an arbitrary $300 budget for a basic ham station, and, generally, succeeds in getting a basic station assembled, minus the antenna, ATU, and miscellaneous items.  Alan recommends a few familiar transceivers which have proven reliable, in- cluding teh Yaesu FT-757GX, the ICOM-730, and the Kenwood TS-440s.  All good choices for those oper- ating on a shoestring budget.  I would add a few more, in- cluding the Kenwood 520 series and a few Ten-Tec classics such as the Triton-540, the Argosy II, and even the Scout 555.  I've owned a few of the above and can attest to their reliability.  Of course, the fur...

The ole Kenwood 520 is just about ready for a full rollout after some minor cleanup procedures.  I was lucky to acquire the rig from a deceased Hilo ham, who kept his equipment clean and maintained.  All I have to do is replace the 2001 finals with some 6146Bs I in the tube drawer.  The original finals are alright for now, but they are a bit soft.  I've run the 520 at low power and it behaved well.  Even my homebrew ac power cord seemed to work.  I was able to get a new replacement from K4EEA just in case my kludge fails along the way.  Presently, I'm re- reading Lew McCoy's "Novice Antenna Book", something I picked up many years ago.  The book is full of simple, work- able antennas that will get you started on your amateur radio adventure.  McCoy, now SK, writes in a friendly, straight- forward way.  I've tried several of his designs and they work well.  Materials for these antennas can be obtained from the nearest ...