Y’know how a quarter-wave stub of coax feedline has interesting properties? Like, if you attach one end to an antenna analyzer and left the other end open at 1/4λ down, then the open circuit looks like a short on the analyzer; zero Ohms resistance. And if you short the end, it looks like an open; […]
Category Archives: Amateur Radio
Visual Mismatch
Sonofabitch. As it turns out, the 60-ish feet of 50ohm RG-8 coax feedline I “rescued” from the disused tower at my last office is actually 75ohm T-1253A. I should’ve looked at the silkscreen more closely. I’m a blind fool. That might explain some of my inability to match my antennas on some bands. The SWR […]
4 Meters Up, 2 Meters Out
The store-bought 2m/70cm groundplane antenna I’ve had mounted on a broomstick inside my apartment now has a home outside where it can reach so many more places. After some brainstorming sessions in the hardware store, thinking of methods to mount 3 sections of military surplus fiberglass poles to my balcony railing, I figured out how […]
Magnetic California
It’s not going to win any beauty contests, but with my slapped-together Small Magnetic Loop Antenna (small MLA), I just worked two stations in the San Francisco Bay area with 20 Watts on FT8! (11pm CDT, 20-meters, antenna in living room.) By comparison, it takes me over 40 Watts to do the same on my […]
Rebalanced
Took out the drill and did repairs to my 1:1 and 4:1 baluns. Made the holes wide enough and at the 3/4″ centers necessary to accept the banana terminal blocks. Sealed the interface between the case and the block with a flattened piece of Coax-Seal(tm) for water protection. Looks better, and now the terminals won’t […]