Hi and thanks for reading.
I'm trying to splice a damaged (rodents) RX ant control cable.
It has 7 insulated, stranded copper conductors all inside a PVC jacket.
Problem is, when stripped of their insulation, 3 (black, brown and
green), of the copper conductors have become coated in a black
Dave G4GED Wrote on Feb. 22nd.
Hi and thanks for reading.
I'm trying to splice a damaged (rodents) RX ant control cable.
It has 7 insulated, stranded copper conductors all inside a PVC jacket.
Problem is, when stripped of their insulation, 3 (black, brown and
green), of the copper conductors
In message 530878d3.1010...@tiscali.co.uk, Dave G4GED
radiodave.g4...@tiscali.co.uk writes
Could anyone tell me why some insulated copper conductors turn black in
this way and whether there's a better way of cleaning it off.
Dave
A very effective (and cheap/safe) method of cleaning the
All
Moisture has gotten to the copper. I've heard white vinegar may work. Its
cheap...give it a try
Carl AG6X
-Original Message-
From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Andy Ikin
Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2014 3:10 AM
To: Dave G4GED; Topband Reflector
Tom
I assume the system has reactance since the MFJ is reading the X and I'm
seeing the resulting SWR on the analyzer AND at the rig.
The swr at my given freq as tuned with the variable cap is 1.3:1 or
less...outside the enclosure the system had 1.0:1 swr readings and X=O over
what appeared
Charlie
Thanks for the tip. I may play with a bit of inductance just to see how the
system reacts.
Not sure if I can post a pic here but I'm including a shot of the panel and the
cap...hope you all can see it. The static bleed choke has been removed and I'm
awaiting PL 259 connectors from
All the other 4 conductors are bright clean copper when stripped.
Could anyone tell me why some insulated copper conductors turn black in
this way and whether there's a better way of cleaning it off.
Water inside the insulation plus sulfur and/or irons that formed copper
sulfide or
Is it phosphoric acid that gives Coca Cola its peculiar cleaning ability?
I no longer can imbibe cola drinks due to a very annoying allergy, so I
can't check a label to see if it is listed. I do know that Coke will clean
oil deposited on your windshield when commercial windshield washing liquids
Lime away will clean it also .But you have to rinse the wire off to
remove residuals.
~73
Don
KD8NNU
FH#4107
-.- -.. ---.. –. –. ..-
On Sat, Feb 22, 2014 at 5:15 AM, Dave G4GED wrote:
Hi and thanks for reading.
I'm trying to splice a damaged (rodents) RX ant control cable.
It has 7
I only made 35 contacts last night from my QTH.I did however get 5
new states and if those contacts use LOTW I will only need 5 more
contacts for my WAS on 160m phone.
My antennas are an inverted L and big loop so I dont hear real well.
But thats my realilty.
The worst part was I did
Hi, Carl
Well, paying with your load on a Smith Chart, tuning out the -j11 only
improved the VSWR from 1.3:1 to 1.1 - not really worth doing! Also, you
would need a fairly large inductor to obtain 1 uHy of inductance with low
loss, and I expect that you would incur more loss in the inductor (that
Thanks for the tip. I may play with a bit of inductance just to see how the
system reacts.
This is way more problematic than it needs to be.
First, no one even knows if the reactance is real or a false reading caused
by a bit error from calibration or noise.
Second, no one knows the sign
Im not concerned by what is measured at the matching unit or a miniscule
cable loss; just what is transformed back to the amp and its ability to load
at full power without arcing, running out of or having too much fixed padder
C during QSY's. Contests do not stay just in the narrow CW 50 KHz
Phosphoric acid is still listed.
73, Larry W6NWS
-Original Message-
From: Kenneth Grimm
Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2014 7:51 AM
To: Tom W8JI
Cc: Dave G4GED ; topband
Subject: Re: Topband: Control cable black conductors
Is it phosphoric acid that gives Coca Cola its peculiar
I completely agree with Tom. Carl! I'd leave it alone(for the reasons that
I stated previously)! I expect that you would lose more than you would gain
by adding an inductor!! If it ain't broke don't fix it!!
You might want to put some effort into a good terminated receiving loop!
73,
I don't expect that ANY of those are valid concerns at 1.3:1 VSWR!!
-Original Message-
From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Carl
Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2014 9:14 AM
To: Charlie Cunningham; 'Carl Braun'; '160'
Subject: Re: Topband: Shunt feeding the
And people DRINK this stuff!!?? :)
-Original Message-
From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Larry
Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2014 9:17 AM
To: topband@contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: Control cable black conductors
Phosphoric acid is still listed.
73,
That 1.3 is only at ONE frequency Charlie, he is not crystal controlled.
What is the 2:1 bandwidth at the amp?
Carl
KM1H
- Original Message -
From: Charlie Cunningham charlie-cunning...@nc.rr.com
To: 'Carl' k...@jeremy.mv.com; 'Carl Braun'
carl.br...@lairdtech.com; '160'
Well, Carl the looses in 70' or even 200' of LMR-400 are so low at 1.8 MHz,
even at 2.0:1 or 3.0 :1, if he can match it at the transmitter end of the
line, it really doesn't matter!
Charlie, K4OTV
-Original Message-
From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Carl
Here in the USA, I keep a bottle of TARN-X on hand. It works well on copper
and silver and is also listed for gold and platinum. Available in local
markets in the kitchen cleaning supplies. Rinse after cleaning to remove
residual.
Arne N7KA
_
Topband Reflector Archives -
Charlie youre continually missing the point; ignore cable loss period.
The only issue is what impedance does the amp see from lets say 1800 to 1900
KHz? AND can the amp load into it without a problem at full power? This is a
system issue, not just what is measured at the antenna and needs to
Well, I agree with all that, Carl. But Carl Braun, was reading dead-flat
1:1 at the transmitter end of his cable. I believe he is done!! The antenna
Q is what it is! As for improving his 2:1 VSWR bandwidth he could reduce
his radial field and increase his ground losses to improve his 2:1 BW -
but
It may not be obvious but often you can get better bandwidth by NOT tuning
for 1:1 at the desired frequency! Those familiar with the Smith chart probably
already know this.
A narrow band antenna will produce a curve between a U and a V on the
Smith chart. If you tune for a 1:1 SWR, you bring the
I suppose I missed that part while doing things around here but this is the
only pertinent info I can find from him. Nowhere does it say he has a 1:1
anywhere with the cap in the cabinet. Granted some of the posts are very
confusing as to where things are being measured.
Wel, I agree with all of that, Roger. I plotted Carl's 45-j11 load on a 50
ohm Smith Chart, and it's right near the origin of the chart on a 1.3:1 VSWR
circle. I'd need some more data points at some other frequencies to plot to
get a better picture of what's going on, But his VSWR is so low that
On 2014-02-22, at 11:45 AM, Herb Schoenbohm wrote:
Don't feel bad Don as last night I only worked three stateside stations K3ZM,
W8PR WD5R. I must have spent two hours calling W8PR at night but heard me
until at my sunrise. I run an Alpha 87A and a quarter wave vertical but all
the
I felt conditions to EU were great in Stew and Prestew.
There was one really excellent hour to run EU boom-boom-boom in CQ WW in
November from LPL. That was a real joy!
I felt also 80/40 were lackluster in ARRL DX CW. Usually I could work an
endless pool of QRP EU stations on 40M and several
The worst part was I did not hear the South Lyon Group who was
running W1AW/8 and they are only 10 ish miles away from me. Maybe
tonight :-)
Don't worry about them ... they've been an alligator on 160 all
week. Easily copyable through -60 dBm atmospheric noise here in
Florida but not working
Nothing said about concentration. We eat acids all the time (e.g., coffee,
citric fruits, vinegar) and your stomach already has acid (HCl).
73, Larry W6NWS
-Original Message-
From: Charlie Cunningham
Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2014 9:25 AM
To: 'Larry' ; topband@contesting.com
The measurements are being taken, and have been taken, at the same point since
the beginning of the antenna experiment. The ONLY difference is that the
variable cap is now mounted inside the steel panel as described in my previous
posts, instead of outside the panel, as described in previous
Moisture has gotten to the copper. I've heard white vinegar may
work. Its cheap...give it a try
Guys, if you use the vinegar or other cleaners, but sure to clean if off
with water after it's done it's job. Also, don't let it wick up into the
insulation. Spreading the strands and wiping
*Yes; received his QSL promptly.*
*73,*
*Mark -- WA9ETW*
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2014 15:59:53 -0600
From: Udo A. Heinze uahei...@mmenterprisesllc.com
To: topband@contesting.com topband@contesting.com
Subject: Topband: OX/OZ1LXJ QSL
Message-ID:
I may have worked only 10 SP last night. When it is a struggle to work
WY,UT,MT and WA from ID you know something is not right.
I did manage one NY, IN, OH, IA, and ND but could not even hear the ID
station that worked the MT station just before me.
I complement the NY station [ note I am not
Tod I think you hit my real problem yesterday. All the states that I
was hoping to contact out west were doing SP just like me. :-)
Maybe I should try and sit still and just run one frq for once in my
life.
~73
Don
KD8NNU
FH#4107
-.- -.. ---.. –. –. ..-
On Sat, Feb 22, 2014 at 2:31 PM,
This may go down as my worst score for this contest. I never heard
anyone loud enough to call and so far zero Q's. Last week we worked
east coast in the ARRL so it's just poor conditions. I guess the folks
not in the contest that we all work for a good score tune around and
need to hear loud
As usual in this contest, I turned on the Alpha
9500 and ran as an alligator. I had swarms
of stations calling, but many were too weak
to copy, I could just tell someone was in there.
Other times, there were too many to separate.
There were a lot of unfamiliar calls last night.
These stations
Rich,
On 2/22/14, 3:13 PM, KL7RA wrote:
This may go down as my worst score for this contest. I never heard
anyone loud enough to call and so far zero Q's. Last week we worked
east coast in the ARRL so it's just poor conditions. I guess the folks
not in the contest that we all work for a good
Hi Bruce
Very happy to answer questions that top band DXers may have about our
experience at ZL6QH.
Please note that not all wind farm installations are noisy - it depends on
the type of turbine technology that is deployed.
73, Brian VK3MI ZL1AZE
-Original Message-
From: Bruce
Hi Brian,
Thank You, appreciate your information and help. There is one message on the
reflector now. Will forward, but you may have found it already.
73,
All the best,
Bruce-K1FZ
- Original Message -
From: Brian Miller brianmil...@xtra.co.nz
To: topband@contesting.com
Sent:
Things are terrible as I can get about one Q per hour. Some years ago I
did WAS in 3.5 hours on 160. Just not possible this weekend to even get
to Florida.
Herb Schoenbohm, KV4FZ
On 2/22/2014 6:01 PM, Hawkins wrote:
Rich,
On 2/22/14, 3:13 PM, KL7RA wrote:
This may go down as my worst
Carl and Topbanders
Here are the latest details and I will try and be as thorough as possible.
Good news! I built my gamma cage and the antenna now performs MUCH better.
Here's where I stand:
90' Tri Ex Skyneedle shunt fed with the gamma arm at 67' and a three wire gamma
cage with 10
And here’s
why…http://www.alaskadispatch.com/video/video-northern-lights-dance-above-fairbanks-alaska
Was SP from 0700-1000. Lots of S’ing, no P’ing while listening to my TS-590 in
scan mode.
Maybe tonight. I have a fresh Voodoo chicken to swing in the shack.
73, Gary NL7Y
_
Wow!! Sounds like you r gamma cage worked out really well, Carl!! The
fact that you are running so much more series C now says that you removed a
lot of inductive reactance from your gamma section. Therefore the Q has
dropped significantly, I expect. Your VSWR bandwidth is great! I would
think
*Oooops -- just noticed my card confirms a 2012 QSO. SRI for the
misinformation.*
*Mark -- WA9ETW*
On Sat, Feb 22, 2014 at 1:02 PM, lmlangenfeld tds.net
lmlangenf...@tds.netwrote:
*Yes; received his QSL promptly.*
*73,*
*Mark -- WA9ETW*
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2014 15:59:53
On 2/22/2014 4:15 PM, Carl Braun wrote:
Inside the shack on the 1000D and the BIRD I see 1.1:1 Vswr at 1.800 MHz, FLAT
1.0:1 from 1.810 to 1.860 and 1.5:1 at 1.895 MHz.
I'm eager to get back on the air tonight and tomorrow morning to see how it
plays
I'm sure it will play well in terms
I was pretty satisfied with this scenario so I mounted my variable cap on a
3/4 thick piece of Plexiglas to the backplane via Teflon bolts inside the
steel enclosure. When I did this I saw my analyzer jump to 45 -j11 ohms.
No matter how much tweaking was done the lowest X on the analyzer was
Exactly! All true and Tom is right on point! You have removed a lot of
series reactance with that gamma cage, Carl -as indicated by the required
tuning C changing.from 160 pF ot over 400 pF. OF COURSE the Q was reduced as
the series reactance was reduced and the real part stayed fairly
That is the type of report I really like to hear Carl. All that work has
paid off in spades.
As you increase the number of radials the VSWR bandwidth might decrease
along with the R which is normal as the ground resistance decreases. Since
it appears to work so well you might just leave it
I'm impressed, too! I believe Carl has it whipped!! Should be a really good
transmit antenna for Topband!!b Changing to that multi-wire gamma cage
really eliminated a lot of series reactance and lowered the Q of the
matching section and antenna combination! Good stuff!
73,
Charlie,K4OTV
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