• Antennas

    From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to Marc Lewis on Tue Apr 30 10:49:47 2019
    Hello Marc,

    29 Apr 19 17:38 at you wrote to me:

    It's certainly worth considering! Antenna might get a bit tricky here
    in an apartment complex; have to check and see...

    There is an excellent book called "Small Antennas for Small Spaces" published by the ARRL you should get. You'd probably solve your problem.

    A buddy of mine just loads up the gutters on his four-story apartment building at night. Seriously. He has a ground rod right next to the bottom spout and he hooks up a modified RG-8X cable...works 10-160 meters with an antenna matcher. :D

    I personally have loaded a small bridge on a country road before with 100W of power and worked Australia with it. :P

    73,
    Sean KD5COL
    https://www.kd5col.us

    ... Organization is the enemy of improvisation.
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Marc Lewis@1:396/45 to Sean Dennis on Wed May 1 00:00:47 2019
    Hello Sean.

    <On 30Apr2019 10:49 Sean Dennis (1:18/200) wrote a message to Marc Lewis regarding Antennas >

    It's certainly worth considering! Antenna might get a bit tricky here
    in an apartment complex; have to check and see...

    There is an excellent book called "Small Antennas for Small Spaces" published by the ARRL you should get. You'd probably solve your
    problem.

    I certainly will look into it!

    A buddy of mine just loads up the gutters on his four-story
    apartment building at night. Seriously. He has a ground rod
    right next to the bottom spout and he hooks up a modified RG-8X cable...works 10-160 meters with an antenna matcher. :D

    Very sneaky... And very clever! I could probably do just that as there's a downspout right next to my apartment... Drive a rivet and a crimpable ring terminal into it. Ground rod would be an absolute must, most probably as all the internal plumbing is plastic. The ground near the downspout is almost always damp so a 1 meter rod would probably suffice. I'd have to devise a method of driving it into the ground without drawing attention to me doing it.

    Thoughts?

    I personally have loaded a small bridge on a country road before
    with 100W of power and worked Australia with it. :P

    Also sneaky and clever, but strange that the bridge would not be at ground potential. How'd you get around that?

    73,
    Marc

    --- timEd/2 1.10.y2k+
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS-Huntsville,AL-bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)
  • From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to Marc Lewis on Wed May 1 13:26:03 2019
    Hello Marc,

    01 May 19 00:00 at you wrote to me:

    Thoughts?

    Stealth operation. :D

    Also sneaky and clever, but strange that the bridge would not be at
    ground potential. How'd you get around that?

    I don't know how it worked, honestly, just that it did. I used my big MFJ-959 matcher and I was able to get it to load up. It's like how I used to load my parents' chain link fence at night for an antenna for a while...

    Here's the antenna I'm getting once I get money coming back in:

    https://myantennas.com/wp/product/efhw-8010/

    Later,
    Sean

    ... Smile! Things can only get worse.
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Sean Dennis on Wed May 1 18:38:30 2019
    On 2019 May 01 13:26:02, you wrote to Marc Lewis:

    Also sneaky and clever, but strange that the bridge would not be at
    ground potential. How'd you get around that?

    I don't know how it worked, honestly, just that it did. I used my big MFJ-959 matcher and I was able to get it to load up. It's like how I
    used to load my parents' chain link fence at night for an antenna for
    a while...

    sounds like concrete bases insulate fairly well... at least if the metal is completely encased in concrete... can't tell unless you get it all up out of the ground and look at the bottom to see if there's any metal from the "antenna" exposed...

    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... Swapping? You mean share my wives?! No way!! That's just...wrong!
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to mark lewis on Wed May 1 19:09:29 2019
    Hello mark,

    01 May 19 18:38 at you wrote to me:

    sounds like concrete bases insulate fairly well... at least if the
    metal is completely encased in concrete... can't tell unless you get
    it all up out of the ground and look at the bottom to see if there's
    any metal from the "antenna" exposed...

    This was an old steel bridge bolted, literally, to the cement foundations in the soil on either side. So what you're saying is probably quite true. It's been many years now and I forget all of the details.

    Later,
    Sean

    ... Incoming fire has the right of way.
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Holger Granholm@2:20/228 to Sean Dennis on Wed May 1 11:03:00 2019
    In a message on 04-30-19 Sean Dennis said to Marc Lewis:

    Hi Sean,

    next to the bottom spout and he hooks up a
    modified RG-8X cable...works 10-160 meters with an antenna matcher.:D

    I'm very happy to see somebody use the correct term ie. antenna matcher
    instead of the usual antenna tuner because it doesn't tune the antenna.


    CU AGN, Sam, OH0NC

    aka Holger


    .. Virus found, Windows: Remove it (Y/y)
    -- MR/2 2.30


    --- PCBoard (R) v15.22 (OS/2) 2
    * Origin: Coming to you from the Sunny Aland Islands. (2:20/228)
  • From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to Holger Granholm on Thu May 2 13:25:50 2019
    Hello Holger,

    01 May 19 11:03 at you wrote to me:

    I'm very happy to see somebody use the correct term ie. antenna
    matcher instead of the usual antenna tuner because it doesn't tune the antenna.

    I had an elmer of mine teach me that. It's just a compromise.

    Later,
    Sean

    ... The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Holger Granholm@2:20/228 to Sean Dennis on Fri May 3 13:48:00 2019
    In a message on 05-02-19 Sean Dennis said to Holger Granholm:

    GA Sean,

    I had an elmer of mine teach me that. It's just a compromise.

    Good elmer! Impedance matcher would be the correct expression.


    CU L8ER de OH0NC

    Holger


    .. It wasn't broke until i fixed it a little...
    -- MR/2 2.30


    --- PCBoard (R) v15.22 (OS/2) 2
    * Origin: Coming to you from the Sunny Aland Islands. (2:20/228)
  • From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to Holger Granholm on Sat May 4 10:59:54 2019
    Hello Holger,

    03 May 19 13:48 at you wrote to me:

    Good elmer! Impedance matcher would be the correct expression.

    Yeah, but who uses the right names? :D

    Later,
    Sean

    ... Murphy's First Law: nothing is as easy as it looks.
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:19/33 to HOLGER GRANHOLM on Sun May 5 12:52:00 2019
    Holger,

    Good elmer! Impedance matcher would be the correct expression.

    At a license exam session where I was an administering VE, just after finishing the exam, one examinee had to step out for a phone call from
    his XYL. He apologized, saying "I had impedance on my signal!!"...we
    roared with laughter. He did get his Technician license, though.

    Daryl, WX4QZ
    ===
    þ OLX 1.53 þ On my Train Of Thought, 99% are riding for half fare!!
    --- SBBSecho 3.07-Win32
    * Origin: FIDONet: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (1:19/33)
  • From Holger Granholm@2:20/228 to Sean Dennis on Sun May 5 10:39:00 2019
    In a message on 05-04-19 Sean Dennis said to Holger Granholm:

    GM Sean,

    Good elmer! Impedance matcher would be the correct expression.

    Yeah, but who uses the right names? :D

    Very few because ARRL and other magazines as well as advertisers use the
    wrong term. :o(


    73 de Sam, OH0NC

    aka Holger


    .. Mushrooms always grow in damp places... so they look like umbrellas!
    -- MR/2 2.30



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  • From Holger Granholm@2:20/228 to Daryl Stout on Mon May 6 09:33:00 2019
    In a message on 05-05-19 Daryl Stout said to Holger Granholm:

    Hi Daryl,

    Good elmer! Impedance matcher would be the correct expression.

    call from his XYL. He apologized, saying "I had impedance on my signal!!"...we roared with laughter. He did get his Technician

    Sorry, I didn't catch that.


    Have a nice day,

    Holger


    .. Hey, I am still having fun, in spite of myself.
    -- MR/2 2.30



    --- PCBoard (R) v15.22 (OS/2) 2
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