bit by the HF ham radio bug

[Cyrus Cassidy #45437]

So I've been getting into ham radio quite heavily over the past six months and have ventured into HF operations (I got my general license at the same time as my technician). Call sign, KF0ROC.

 

For HF, I'm using an Icom 7300. I installed a Comet CHA-250hd vertical antenna outside on the corner of the property with a tilt base made by DX Engineering. The tilt base will allow me to lay the antenna down during the crazy wind storms we get. I even landscaped around the antenna and its associated ground rod so that mowing is easy.

 

Anyway, I have had QSOs all over the country, into Canada, and even Russia. I hunt POTA activations and have earned the bronze, silver, and gold hunter awards. I have heard Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, and a few other DX stations but couldn't break through the pileup. But I really want to improve my DX game. At this point I'm willing to put up a tower.

 

Assuming I have a tower installed (let's say 40 or 50 feet), what directional antennas should I consider? How does a rotator work? Anything else to consider?

[Will Kane]

Ham radio and cowboy action shooting are so similar in many ways. $$$

 

Am I correct in assuming your interest is in a rotatable yagi that covers 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 meters?

[El Chapo]

I have a 43 foot tower in my yard with tribander + dipole for the WARC bands and a 43' vertical for 40/80.  Let me know if you want to schedule a qso sometime, 40 meters is probably best for us in the evenings and 20m during the day.

 

For a directional antenna, it really depends on what your tower will withstand.  Mine won't take a yagi bigger than about the 14' boom or whatever I have now, so I use wires for the WARC bands (which is fine, there's no contesting and not very much bandwidth for phone, and for FT8 you don't need a fancy antenna).

 

While antenna is VERY important, if you can hear them and you can't break the pileup, an amplifier will do more to change that, contrary to popular opinion.  Ideally you'd have both, but when I flick my amplifier off of standby, the pileup is over and I'm in, nearly every time.

[Sedalia Dave]

2 hours ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

So I've been getting into ham radio quite heavily over the past six months and have ventured into HF operations (I got my general license at the same time as my technician). Call sign, KF0ROC.

 

For HF, I'm using an Icom 7300. I installed a Comet CHA-250hd vertical antenna outside on the corner of the property with a tilt base made by DX Engineering. The tilt base will allow me to lay the antenna down during the crazy wind storms we get. I even landscaped around the antenna and its associated ground rod so that mowing is easy.

 

Anyway, I have had QSOs all over the country, into Canada, and even Russia. I hunt POTA activations and have earned the bronze, silver, and gold hunter awards. I have heard Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, and a few other DX stations but couldn't break through the pileup. But I really want to improve my DX game. At this point I'm willing to put up a tower.

 

Assuming I have a tower installed (let's say 40 or 50 feet), what directional antennas should I consider? How does a rotator work? Anything else to consider?

 

If you want to install a directional antenna with a rotor you need to know the wind load rating of your tower. Keep in mind that the wind speed at 50' AGL is greater than it is at ground level. Me personally, I would locate the tower so that if it fell it would not hit any occupied buildings or overhead wires of any kind.

 

As for wire antennas, an inverted V design works well and is a lot less expensive than a beam antenna. 

 

I strongly recommend that you build yourself one of these Ugly 1:1 Baluns. Will outperform any commercially sold balun when it comes to eliminating feed line radiation. Step by step guide to designing your own ugly balun. Build one for the lowest frequency you'll use. It will work on all higher frequencies.

 

When it comes to an antenna tuner those that are of the "L" design are vastly superior to the PI designs. While it is true that the PI design has a greater ability to create an acceptable match. They can be extremely inefficient with most of your transmitter power being converted to heat inside the tuner. I have seen several of this design arc internally. The L network tuners are more efficient and the better ones can be configured to optimized for the frequency and type of antenna you are using. 

 

 

[Sedalia Dave]

A good resource.  https://hamradiooutsidethebox.ca/

 

Antenna Height Matters – True or False?

[Chief Rick]

You may not be able to make DX contacts due to antenna performance vice power output. 

 

I'm saving my pennies for a DX Commander antenna, probably the Signature 9 or 12.4.  No tuner required.

 

Currently running an 80M EFHW, set up for more NVIS.

[Sedalia Dave]

That’s a good design for a multi-band antenna. 
 

 Just so you are aware, the reason it works is because each vertical wire is connected to a different point on the plate. If two wires share the same point it seriously degrades the performance of the antenna. 

[watab kid]

ive not dabbled in that since high school friend and i were involved but it was fun , id even like to revisit but so much has changed in the last 50+ years i dont even know where to begin , i can still listen on my 1927 atwater kent radio , but im not into listening to dots and dashes much , but the voice stuff is ok , when i can keep it in tune - its an old vacuumed tube radio after all , kinda fun with the grandkids , they cant believe it predates TV 

[Rooster Ron Wayne]

I'm BigRooster on the CB Radio .

But I keep getting weirdos wanting to talk to me 😳 

[Lawdog Dago Dom]

New kid on the block here with ham radio.

Got my license in November.

There are many SASS members who are experienced in this area, as you can see.

If there is a ham radio club in your area, sit in at one of their meetings. 

You will get a wealth of information as to what works best in your area since the members will be local.

We are fortunate to have several active clubs in SW Missouri, and I have learned more in 20 minutes over a cup of coffee than hours of internet searches.

Good luck.

(also enjoying the image of a revolutionary war soldier working a radio)

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

When Hurricane Sandy came stomping across the Appalachians and screamed through my TAOR, it tore down my 40 meter loop antenna and the trees that held it up.

Honest Engine, a full 40 meters of wire in the air.

Best antenna I ever had!

With those two fine and lofty supports gone, I'm limited to low altitude wire antennas, currently running an EFHW with a remarkable lack of success.

Not the antenna's fault ... I have to engineer something better, so the Perpetual Search and Experimentation continues!

[Chief Rick]

3 hours ago, Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 said:

When Hurricane Sandy came stomping across the Appalachians and screamed through my TAOR, it tore down my 40 meter loop antenna and the trees that held it up.

Honest Engine, a full 40 meters of wire in the air.

Best antenna I ever had!

With those two fine and lofty supports gone, I'm limited to low altitude wire antennas, currently running an EFHW with a remarkable lack of success.

Not the antenna's fault ... I have to engineer something better, so the Perpetual Search and Experimentation continues!

I've got 40M of wire as an EFHW, sloped. Feed point is ~10 feet off the ground sloping up to ~25 feet. I've made contacts within MS as well as to WI, AZ and one or two off the 13 Colony sites. I'm not playing as much as I'd like.

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

FB OM, outstanding performance indeed!