Re: Topband: Radial wire

I just use 2-conductor military field phone wire with the 2 insulated wires in parallel.  There is so little current in each radial (I have 137 radials 100 ft long) that the small partly-steel wire works fine.  The rugged poly insulation should protect the wire forever and makes zero

Re: Topband: Air Wound Coil

I used #10 plastic insulated solid "house wire" salvaged from 2-conductor + ground cable for the small 5 inch dia coil on my 630m inverted-L.  The insulation automatically provides a spacing of about 1 wire diameter and measured Q was 300 at 475kHz. On 8/30/2018 8:31 AM, David Cutter via

Re: Topband: WWV/WWVH as prop-indicator for EU stns

This is exactly what WSPR was designed to do. On 8/26/2018 4:29 PM, W0MU Mike Fatchett wrote: FT8 and PSK reporter will work. On 8/26/2018 1:01 PM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote: On 8/26/2018 9:29 AM, Dr. Wolf Ostwald wrote: hello ! In my 40yrs + as a ham, it became a habit to first

Re: Topband: OT - US Hams, WWV closure

It seems to me that this may be similar to the time when the Government threatened to cut the VHF weather broadcasts or when schools threaten to cut popular arts or sports programs.  I could be wrong, but they may simply be trying to gain sympathy for a larger budget. Brian, W1IR, VT On

Re: Topband: Radial plate

I have a DX Engineering radial plate bolted to the tilt-over base of my aluminum tower.  It is very nice, and I use the coax cable feature to ground my feedline. It is really overkill for your purpose.  I would crimp *_and solder _*ring terminals onto each radial, with perhaps 1/4" holes.  I

Re: Topband: Radials in the desert

One partial solution might be to collect small rocks and place them along each radial on top of the wire close enough together to provide clear visual cues. On 6/20/2018 9:23 AM, MICHAEL ST ANGELO wrote: Chet, Have you tried digging a shallow trench with an edge trimmer? They are also known

Re: Topband: sorry wrong number

I also received a spool of the wire today, brand new in original box.  It is a good buy, but still cost twice what I paid for a couple of 2km spools of the same wire at about $60.00 each with shipping about 1 year ago. On 6/8/2018 7:39 PM, terry burge wrote: I finally called the Sportsmans

Re: Topband: Laying ground radials

when I buried all of the cables for my tower 100m from the shack, a neighbor used his small tractor to pull an ancient small modified plow.  The left side of the blade was removed, so it cut a small furrow and flipped the lawn and field sod to just one side.  This took 10-15 minutes.  I stood

Re: Topband: 160m inv vee questions

run the wires NE-SW? The article I read did mention the polarity being vertical in the direction of the wires, consistent with your model. Would the same apply to the 80m portion? Thanks & 73, Dick -Original Message- From: Brian Pease <bpea...@myfairpoint.net> Sent: Sunday, Apr

Re: Topband: 160m inv vee questions

I modeled an inverted-V last week.  If the feed is balanced, the total radiation pattern (Hor + Ver) is omni-azimuthal with a lot of upward radiation.  Directly broadside, the radiation is horizontal but off the ends it is entirely vertical.  For 160 to EU I would orient NE-SW. On 4/1/2018

Re: Topband: Soil conductivity maps

Another bit of advice is to move as far north as you can stand, because up here the population is steady or declining as folks migrate away from the snow belt. On 4/1/2018 2:31 PM, HP wrote: My first priority would be a RF quiet location and best prospects of it staying that way - Been in

Re: Topband: Subject: Re: Straws in the Wind ....A 160m Dx'ing Sea Change

I assume that the same thing occurred when CW (Continuous Wave) started to replace spark, and tube receivers started replacing crystal sets. "Its to easy, takes away the challenge". Back in the 80s I used a pocket-size 2 Watt 20m kit xcvr to work >100 DX entities in a 1 year period on CW. Try

Re: Topband: Laser Com introducing a breakthrough Top Band antenna at Dayton

Hey, the great minds that financed the Solyndra Solar debacle might go for it! On 4/1/2018 12:09 PM, Allan Culbert wrote: And today is?? On Sun, Apr 1, 2018 at 12:01 PM, wrote: Laser Com Announces New Topband Antenna System Reported by Woody K3YV Laser Com,

Re: Topband: Soil conductivity maps

Look for deep rich moist farm soil.  Recent chemical fertilizer use should make it even more conductive On 4/1/2018 10:45 AM, Jeff Kinzli N6GQ wrote: So I'm looking to purchase a new QTH. I'm not particular about location, but would like to optimize for soil conductivity and any other

Re: Topband: Straws in the wind, continued or, "Where's the DX?"

In my experience (sine 1957) casual CW DX contacts have nearly always been RST, QTH, Name, and for a long QSO maybe Rig.  A memory keyer can do most of TX, and nowadays there are fairly good CW decoders.  Not much different from other digital modes. It seems to me that most of the thrill of DX

Re: Topband: Straws in the Wind ....A 160m Dx'ing Sea Change is Upon us!

I predict that it won't be long before there is an FT-8 robot, or something similar, on the Moon!  What better way to test a new antenna than a long haul s/n report? No one has mention Amateur satellites yet that in some cases have allowed working thousands of miles with a handheld. On

Re: Topband: Straws in the Wind ....A 160m Dx'ing Sea Change is Upon us!

When 90% of band activity is taking place in ~1% of the available bandwidth, it gets one's attention, doesn't it. Personally, I have always considered DXpedition, and especially contest, CW exchanges to be a bit silly, with nearly everyone getting a 5NN signal report.  With today's technology I

Re: Topband: low inv-vee

Just for fun, I modeled a 160m low inverted-V in NEC4.2, using 4NEC2 to look at the patterns.  The apex was 15m up.  Each leg was 40.7m long with the ends 7.5m up.  It was fed with 300 Ohm open wire dropping vertically to 1m above the ground.  I fed it from a 300 Ohm source.   Directly under

Re: Topband: Wednesday 160m DX Activity Night

You were 579 in VT but you could not hear my 100W. On 3/29/2018 5:55 AM, Roger Kennedy wrote: Well conditions seemed pretty good last night . . . my RBN reports were certainly encouraging from several NA stations - one was even 49 dB over the noise ! However, there was a distinct lack of

Re: Topband: FCC authorizes 1KW wireless power transmission

I read their experiment.  They will transmit only a CW (unmodulated) signal for the minimum time needed to complete a field strength reading.  The only frequency where they will run 1000W "radiated" is 1710kHz.  On other freqs they plan to run 100W "radiated" & try to avoid interfering with

Re: Topband: FCC authorizes 1KW wireless power transmission

I agree about the pie.  I have done a bit of reading.  Their experimental station will use a 50kW broadcast xmtr to (they say) generate a Zenneck surface vertical EM wave with little radiation loss into the sky by using a special "probe".  Zenneck waves are real and have been demonstrated in a

Re: Topband: Sod staples

I used the same source twice and was very pleased. Brian W1IR On 2/12/2018 9:15 AM, cqtestk4xs--- via Topband wrote: After getting a four square for 80 radial system buried and now starting the 160 system I wanted to pass along a good cheap source of yard staples. A company called sandbaggy

Re: Topband: Fwd: [TowerTalk] Loss in CCS conductors at low freqs (was Voltage Breakdown For Enameled Wire)

My guess is also the steel wires, which have very poor conductivity at HF compared to copper.  Aluminum fence wire is also not a good choice and would likely literally dissolve if buried, depending on soil characteristics.  I use army surface field phone wire, which is a mix of copper and

Re: Topband: WKYW on 1810kc

Solid copy in Northern VT.  Obviously a bad connection. I want their antenna! On 1/10/2018 6:56 PM, Steve Babcock wrote: FYI….Making it all the way to western Canada in VE6. Very solid on East Beverage. de steve VE6WZ. On Jan 10, 2018, at 3:59 PM, Bill Stewart wrote:

Re: Topband: CATV RG6 with messinger wire for support

I have a 1000 ft bi-directional beverage that is built with RG-6 with steel messenger wire.  The wire seems to have no electrical effect but makes the beverage really strong.  A transformer at the far end puts the reverse-direction signal between the center conductor and shield.  2 feedlines

Re: Topband: Detuning Relay Flyback Diode

You can put the diode directly across just the LED if the relay speed is important.  The LED series resistor won't slow it much. On 12/23/2017 11:15 AM, Paul Christensen wrote: Brad, If you use an LED with a dropping resistor across the coil to monitor relay status, then you must use a

Re: Topband: FT8 - the end of 160m old school DXing?

I think that digital modes such as FT8 are a boon to hams in homes with covenants, allowing them to work the world with minimal, even indoor, antennas and QRP power levels. For them, at least, the challenge is still there. I think FT8 is so popular because there is more reward (contacts) for a

Re: Topband: Shunt Feed help

I have used NEC4 to model my short 50 ft tower for shunt feed on 160, 80, and 40 meters.  It has a small triband beam with all elements grounded.  The 160m shunt wire goes to the top, of course, and NEC gave a good estimate of the impedance.  On 80m, my first guess was pretty close to 50 Ohms. 

Re: Topband: underground cables question

I installed buryflex along with direct burial control cables last year.  I learned that it is best to directly bury the cables without conduit.  Water from condensation will eventually fill the conduit even if rain doesn't get in.  Possibly a different story in low humidity areas, I suppose,

Re: Topband: 160 meter 1/4 vertical

I erected a 50 ft self-supporting grounded aluminum tower last fall, with a triband beam as a top load. I installed 137 radials 30m long (because I could!). I first shunt fed it on 160m and it works well. I added 80m shunt feed this spring and it is superb. I modeled 40m and 30m in NEC4.2.

Re: Topband: Top Band and JT65

10 Watts is considered high power on the digital modes. Is using 1000 Watts on 160m (+20dB) and 250Hz receive filters (+10dB) on both ends of a CW QSO more challenging than 10W on JT65 on the same link? Perhaps not. On 5/15/2017 7:44 PM, Jim Murray via Topband wrote: I hate to weigh in

Re: Topband: Top Band and JT65

True enough, but time marches on. This is similar to the discussion about whether Columbus or Captain Cook would have used GPS if it had been available, or instead navigated without it just for the challenge. I have, in fact "navigated" once across the Atlantic using a sextant, but I made

Re: Topband: Top Band and JT65

This may sound strange, but my opinion is that hams like the musical tones of JT65. On 5/13/2017 3:27 PM, Mike Waters wrote: Why not JT9? It has a 2 dB improvement in S/N ratio on 160, while using only 1/10 of the bandwidth. I cannot understand why JT9 is used so little on 160 thru 20. JT65

Re: Topband: RBOG installation

Google "garden staples ebay". $11.50/100 free shipping. On 4/25/2017 12:54 PM, James Denneny wrote: My garden tractor lawn mower ate one of my RBOG's. I thought 2.5 inch blade height was sufficient but the updraft from the mower deck lifted the wire into the blade. Yes, I can raise

Re: Topband: Sept 12 JT65 on 1838khz...nice opening to Eu.

JT-65 is a QRP mode, like WSPR where I use10W. High power can ruin it for everyone else. Read the documentation. On 3/17/2017 8:36 AM, Lennart m wrote: I do not agree with you Pedro. More is not always better. Use no more than you need. JT65 allows more noise than does CW, thus one doesn’t

Re: Topband: twisted house wiring

I installed a vanity in a old house in New London, CT. The BX only had 2 wires for the original light & 2-prong outlet. Fortunately the jacket was grounded although it had never been connected to the old fixture. I needed the ground for the new GFI outlet. On 2/22/2017 5:06 PM, MICHAEL ST

Re: Topband: Echo on 160m yesterday morning

I experienced long delayed CW echos once on 20m, back in the 1980s before there was much wireless stuff. Also, I lived in the country with no close neighbors. The delay was significant because I was not using instant break-in, with the rig taking at least 1/4 sec to switch to receive. I

Re: Topband: tower vertical

The base insulator is certainly the most effective way to detune, and the most efficient way to drive the tower, but it is nice to have the tower grounded and use shunt feed. You can detune the tower by turning the bottom section into a parallel-resonant trap during receive, probably using

Re: Topband: My Shunt Fed Tower

It may be good to decouple the inverted-Vs from the tower. This would involve a tuned trap at each feedpoint made up of the feed coax and a resonating capacitor. See ON4UNs Low Band DXing, 5th edition pg 6-69. On 1/29/2017 9:23 PM, Bob Garrett wrote: Greetings Listers, I'm looking to