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Exam passed.. callsign inbound.

  • 04-08-2020 9:49pm
    #1
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭


    Nice. .PDF in my newly opened Comreg E-Licensing account:
    Dear Popoutman,
    Further to the recent Amateur Radio examination held on 25/07/2020 at Maldron Hotel, Tallaght, Dublin 24, I am pleased to inform you that you have been successful and have attained a standard sufficient for the award of the HAREC Certificate which is available below.
    Section A 27/30
    Section B 24/30
    Overall 51/60
    Candidates who wish to obtain or upgrade an Amateur Station Licence based on this qualification may
    apply via the on line portal which is available on this site: https://elicensing.comreg.ie. Go to "Apply for a
    Licence" on the home page.

    Yours sincerely,
    Licensing Operations Manager

    And I've already made my application to Comreg for my callsign..

    Then I'll be finally legally allowed to play with WSPR, FT8, SSB and slowly but surely CW. I'll also be allowed to legally own the FT-817 and FT-891 that I have access to, and to use the antennas I have built and bought over the past few months..


Comments

  • #2
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    Lo and behold - callsign allocated in my e-licensing account.

    PM me if anyone wants it - I'm obviously not posting it up here :D


  • #3
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    One week later, been a nice week on the air.

    I've ~40 QSOs made between FT8 and voice, and a few are validated on hrdlog.net and qrz.com.
    Mostly using the FT-891 and the DX Commander all-band vertical - that's a great antenna, especially with the 80m inverted-L addition. I'm also using an Aerial-51 404UL off-centre-fed dipole, sitting on top of a Chinese 10m carbon fishing pole from AliExpress. That's also got some great characteristics.

    My FT-817ND is proving to be a great portable item, but I have to build myself a pair of SlimJim antennas for 2m and 70cm, and I'll be able to hit the Southeast Repeater Network via the repeater on DevilsBit mountain. I've too much RG8 coax between the house and the DXC-80 for it to be useful as a transmit antenna. My antenna components will arrive later next week and I'll get the soldering iron and antenna analyser out for a bit of fun.

    After building up the QRP-Labs U3S beacon kits, it's been really good to see just how far 0.02 Watts will reach - and it'll reach transatlantic. With a power that would have trouble keeping an LED visible in daytime! Amazing.

    I think my neighbours here in suburbia are wondering what's going on, as I've got three ~10m poles sticking straight up in the air with wires hanging from them, and with me in the garden at times with the -897 transceiver saying strange things into a microphone. What's a "Calling CQ" mean anyway!

    It also appears that my repurposed ATX power supply won't work for what I had hoped it would, as it appears that the 12v it outputs means the FT-891 rolls back its transmit power to about 50w instead of the requested 100W. A good linear supply was in my future anyway..


  • #4
    Tow
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,096 ✭✭✭Tow


    At lease in this day and age "Calling CQ" is less lightly to be to be coming out their TV/Radio speakers :-)

    When is the money (including lost growth) Michael Noonan took in the Pension Levy going to be paid back?



  • #5
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    Very valid. These days it's much more likely that the neighbour's network hardware between their Eircom router and their Sky box is making a hash of the shortwave spectrum..


  • #6
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Congrats for passing the Exam, it's a great feeling isn't it ?

    I was pretty nervous for my first couple of qso's.

    Don't rush out and buy more radios, that FT-891 is a superb radio with a really quiet receiver, I prefer it a lot more to the 7300 because the Audio is so good without any DSP or NR.

    If I were to know better back when I got the 7300 I would have got the Kenwood TS-590SG, why ? because it's also got a great receiver + the ergonomics are a lot better than the 7300, it's just a much nicer radio to use and it sounds better with better filters and because it's got a built in panadapter you can add your own SDR and have it on a much larger screen than they puny useless screen on the 7300.

    Originally I was considering the FTDX-3000 because of Yaesu's superior Noise reduction and Audio but as I was working shift at the time I chose the 7300 for the remote access via the RS-B1A software which isn't that good.

    The FT-891 Audio I could listen to forever it's just so good, the 7300 has a kind of harshness to the audio that is fatiguing even with NR,t he ting is that the FT-891 has much better audio without any NR or DSP, I always listen with headphones, the 891 speaker isn't great but shines with headphones.

    In fact, if I were to go the SDR route I would choose the SUN SDR 2 DX the 100 watt, great radio if you want to go the SDR route, Remote access and will work with Linux.

    I am now thinking of finally getting on the repeaters. Have no radio yet for that, Mount Leinster is my nearest, I have clear line of sight, can see the flashing light at night. Anyway, I notice it has the digital modes DStar, Fusion and DMR but no idea which modes are more popular or good O'l Analogue ?


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  • #7
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    Thanks :)

    I'm not mike shy at least, I have that kind of confidence to be able to put myself out there, and not afraid to screw it all up, no-one will really care.

    Agreed re: sound quality of the -891 - it is quite pleasant to listen to, and learning how to manipulate the RF gain and the DNR, with the notch and width and shift really does help to get the voice out of the noise, no doubt about that. I also know that to get that receive quality in a form, factor that is not as menu-driven, I'd have to spend a few grand and I'm not really about to do that (yet..)

    My next purchase will be a power supply (one 23A 12-15V adjustable) on the way from Farnell; and a half-decent amp to be able to reach the 400W limit, though I'll probably get a quality one that will work for contesting as well ( ;-) ) I have my eyes on something solid-state and with ATU - though the DXC-80 doesn't need an ATU.

    I might get myself a 5W 2m/70cm handheld to access the repeaters, but I'm building a pair of SlimJim antennas for the 2m and 70cm band, with some 213 coax, and I'll be trying those with the -817 and seeing how well it works, if it can open the repeater. I can hear the transmissions but not reach the repeater in the Devils Bit from here in Castletroy.

    You sound as though you are in a good position to get on that network. (It's also on echolink and Zello..) I don't know which digi modes are good, it's a missed opportunity for a global open standard for comms; I suppose it's whatever is near you that you can use. At least the repeaters near you are multi-protocol.


  • #8
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    What's the DXC-80 ?

    I was thinking about a solid state amp but then discovered they don't like anything above SWR of 1.5:1 and internal tuners adds a big price, they're much too expensive currently and not supposed to be as reliable as the Valve Amps, there's no real advantage of solid state really and the big disadvantage is the cost so after the advice of some other HAMS Last Friday I got the Acom 1000, and boy is it an impressive amp, tuning takes seconds and it doesn't need a tuner at all up to 3:1 SWR it will output full power + they are easier to fix if they fail + Kinda need an antenna with a low enough SWR anyway when feeding it with Coax and I use the myantennas,com EFHW-8010 great antenna, highest SWR is around 1.8:1 on the higher part of 80m, I could shorten it for lower SWR on 80m but I never saw the need.

    Losses on high SWR via Coax are huge but SWR doesn't tell the full story, Doublets work great and have massive SWR on most bands and feeding them with Coax would be a disaster, most People feed them with ladder line which makes them much more efficient but you definitely need a tuner no matter what amp you get but they are a good antenna.

    I am a fan of the EFHW-8010, I get good NVIS and also good DX with it setup with UNUN around 3 feet from the ground where I have it earthed there then it goes up straight for around 5 meters then swings North up to around 50 feet then it goes East to around 60 feet so I do have a height and half of it is a kind of inverted L but it works extremely well, the Amp makes a difference an I don't need a tuner at all. :D

    If you are into contesting you can get a special temporary license to allow you work I think up to 1.5 Kw. Personally I am not a fan of contesting simply because they are allowed on too many bands and at weekends sometimes they are so annoying with no space for anyone to have a rag chew that I just abandon ship. Some of them run massive power with huge antennas and mic gain and compression turned up so high their signal splatters everywhere!

    I am going to get a handheld for the Mount Leinster Repeater, I have clear line of site from my house so it should work well even inside the house. I am not sure what to get at this time, might get a cheap Yaesu that does Fusion, Mount Leinster has 3 digital modes and of course Analogue is probably the most popular. I was keen on one of the Baofengs until I saw some reviews compared to one of the cheap Yaesu radios and the Yaesu had much better sensitivity + the transmit signal on the baofengs can be dirty causing interference and harmonics and I don't want to be responsible for that + some of the higher powered ones don't output anything close to the rated power but they are very cheap.

    The FT-891 really is a great radio and white strikes me is how quiet the receiver is compared to the 7300. So if you're thinking about a base radio I would avoid the 7300. Get the TS-590SG and use the built in panadapter for the waterfall if you want or the SUN SDR 2 DX which is a pretty great 100 watt SDR.

    We must arrange an O'l rag Chew

    Go to my thread here https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057982287&page=15

    If you're interested the usual time for meet up is around 9pm band permitting, I haven't had a meet up with some of the lads in boards in quite a while but hopefully they'll get the message and come on.

    Usually we post the frequency in the above thread.


  • #9
    Quaderno
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 815 ✭✭✭Quaderno


    Deleted User wrote: »
    What's the DXC-80 ?
    (...)
    I was keen on one of the Baofengs until I saw some reviews compared to one of the cheap Yaesu radios and the Yaesu had much better sensitivity + the transmit signal on the baofengs can be dirty causing interference and harmonics and I don't want to be responsible for that + some of the higher powered ones don't output anything close to the rated power but they are very cheap.
    (...)

    Since I linked to the Baofeng in the other thread I just want to add something here. While you are right in general re. the issues with cheap chinese radios the UV-B5 (not to be confused with the much more common UV-5R) is an exceptional radio for the price. Test here: https://hamgear.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/review-baofeng-uv-b5-baofeng-uv-b6/
    I have been using one for years and it still is my absolute favourite.


  • #10
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I had a play around with the UV-5R in a ham friends house today, nice radio great sound. No problem accessing the mount Leinster repeater this afternoon inside, it was rather busy which was good to see.

    I am also interested in trying out some digital but from looking at YouTube programming the radios seems to be hassle.

    I’ve seen the yaesu ft-3D which seems pretty cool ?


  • #11
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    DXC-80: The DX Commander All-Band Vertical, with 80m addition. Designed in the UK by Callum of DX Commander Ltd and built in Limerick by yours truly. It's supplied as a kit, and I took about 5 hours to build and tune mine. For the cost of the antenna, the performance is excellent. Even without looking at the cost it's great. Plus rated to 1.5kW if/when I get to that stage. Would *strongly* recommend it if you have the room. My version uses a 10m telescopic mast and up to 6 driven elements, simialr to a fan dipole, but rotated 90 degrees up. Callum is developing a larger version with an 18m pole. I'm looking at it and getting tempted, though I think the neighbours might kick up at a ~60ft spike poking up out of the lawn


    A very good antenna. I've measured my rig output at ~40W at the moment until I get my 13.8v supply on Monday from RS Components, and I'm getting decent distance with those 40W. Was about heard last night in KP20mn in Finland on 80m, and I've made voice contacts without issue on 20m in Canaries and Slovakia. On FT8 I've made QSO with Brazil and Tanzania and the US.

    I've just paid for a secondhand Yaesu FT70DE, I'll have it end of next week. €150 or so all in. Analogue FM, Fusion, and basic Wires-X. I figured it'd be a handy handy.. I got my 450 ohm ladderline today, that I'm hacking up for the 2m and 70cm antennas. Made myself a SlimJim for 145MHz, and I stuck it at the top of the 10m Sotabeams Travelpole I have; and I managed to open the repeater on the Devil's Bit with the 817ND and that's nicely impressive I think. Quite happy with that.

    The Baofengs are great for the price, but easy to overload and heavy on the harmonics. The fact they usually can transmit out of band out of the box means they are technically not legal in Ireland, but I would expect any radio amateur to be responsible about the frequencies they transmit on. I have one, as it's waterproof and it'll work in an emergency on the maritime channels.
    .


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  • #12
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Ah I had a feeling it was a dc commander, hi hi, I have a chameleon mpas 2.0 on the front lawn and regularly get to South America on 20m with just the single supplied counterpoise and 100 watts, got for portable use but because it works so well I decided to leave it up permanently.

    DX commander is good alright but XYL wouldn't like it especially with guy ropes. The chameleon is inconspicuous and the myantennas.com efhqw 8010 is hardly noticeable at all, I regularly get south america with this antenna too and furthest I got was Sidney.

    I was impressed with the little Baofeng UV-5R in my mates, good sound and worked great inside the house. But I am looking for something that will do digital and doesn't take ages to program.

    We'd be easily able to chat via the repeaters, so I'm hoping to have something for next week.


  • #13
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    In the interim, I've gone and bought myself a Folding Antennas Hexbeam for 10dB of directionality on 20/17/15/12/10/6, and I've ordered a 12m aluminium mast to sit the Hexbeam on, as well as some very high quality Messi.it coaxial cables to get the signals in and out.

    The Hexbeam is about 6.2m in diameter, about 7kg or so, and should be relatively easy on the eyes of the neighbours. I am suspecting that the immediate next door (those that are currently bathing in RF from their powerline ethernet boxes of crap) are 5G deniers, so I'm waiting for the explosion of indignation about what I am doing in the comfort of my backyard.. That'll be a fun conversation, as I worked out that their crappy adapters are putting into their house somewhere between x100 and x1000 the level of RF that my antennas put out. Add to that their crappy boxes put a few dB of noise onto the amateur bands and their arguments become utterly pointless.

    Looking at the relative performances of the antenna models, the Hexbeam should in theory give about 2-6dB more signal at 5 to 10 degrees up, so should give better DX capability than the DX Commander - at the loss of the omnidirectionality of the vertical. At least 20m is working well enough of late, being able to reach transatlantic from the noise of suburbia has been a good sign. So, as Cycle 25 starts to ramp up, the higher bands should get better and better for propagation, and it's no harm to me to have the equipment to take advantage of that.

    I also got my hands on a decent EAntennas dualband 2/70 Yagi, with 5el on 2m and 8el on 70cm. I can now open the local repeaters just-about with the 5W of the Yaesu FT-70D so I have a Mirage BD-35 dualband amplifier just clearing customs today, and with the amp, the Yagi, and the FT70 I should be about able to open the repeater on the ISS - but I might need a RHCP antenna instead of the linear polarisation of the Yagi for the sending up. The Yagi will go under my Hexbeam so it'll also be rotatable to get different directions.

    I also took part in SOTA over the weekend just gone, brought a 42m long OCFD wire antenna and my FT891 to the top of the nearest prominent peak (Keeper Hill) and I was chatting to other SOTA activators in Portugal, Spain, and Croatia With a few more contacts made from the top, I got my activation points, and a much better idea of what actually works for both lightweight portable and for luggable portable. I think the 817 is great but doesn't really have the horsepower to be heard on HF at a distance under current conditions, and I have a 40W amp with it but I was not being heard with it when I was trying. Swapping over to the 891 and I was getting more 5-9 reports for only 30W more, and I now have my first SOTA summit activated.


  • #14
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    The 891 is a great radio, can work QRP all the way to 100W. I love it and it's got some super sounding audio which beats the 7300 and the G90. I always listen with headphones, the built in speaker isn't the best but it really shines with headphones. The audio hasn't been mutilated by SDR, good o'l Superhet analogue.

    I haven't got a tower yet, where did you get the 12m one ?

    I can access Mount Leinster repeater no problem from the house and I got this antenna which mde a notable difference over the stock antenna supplied with the Anytone D878.https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B013U3Y36U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Have you looked into DMR yet ?

    Glad you're enjoying the hobby, I love working some digital modes mostly PSK31 and Olivia, FT8 to me is only useful to see how far I'm getting out, a lot of People don't bother replying anyway, JS8 Call is interesting but again, most People are only interested in clicking HB and Ack'ing.

    I really like FLdigi too, if you haven't already check out FLrig which is good for controlling the 891 from the computer and works great with Linux too, handy when just doing some SW listening. Yes, I really do like the FT-891, it's one radio I can guarantee I won't be selling. The G90 will be gone long before, in fact, if anyone is interested in the G90 then make me an offer.


  • #15
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    I now own two DMR radios - Retevis RT83 and RT3; I also fully agree with you that DMR setup is terrible. Once it's set up on e.g. a home hotspot, it's not *too* bad, I dislike the sound quality, makes people sound as though they have adenoid problems (either that or everyone I've heard has adenoid problems which is not an impossibility). I have the radios set up on a duplex hotspot on an RPi3, works well now it's configured. I might have a go at putting more talkgroups on the handsets, if/when I feel inclined.

    I have a second hotspot, simplex on a PiZeroW, and that's configured for my Yaesu FT-70D to talk to, and that's working better. Almost able now to pick and choose the Yaesu room of choice.. The crossover between YSX and DMR mungles the sound a fair bit which is a pity, but the native analogue and digital to real repeaters is definitely much better quality for my ears at least. The fact I can set the Yaesu up to scan the Shannon aero frequencies and can scan through them in under a second is definitely a plus for me. I have a DBJ-2 antenna built by the students of the SlimJim antenna designer Ed Fong, and it's a brilliant little long antenna. Omnidirectional, with a radiation pattern pretty much flat to the horizon. Dualbanded as well so 2/70 both work well. It's my go-to antenna for the FT-70, as I can just hang it up on anything non-conductive and it works. The Yagi is a better directional antenna, but is also unwieldy. More YSX experimentation needed..

    My 12m mast is one of these: https://www.wimo.com/en/accessories/antenna-accessories/masts/18300 purchased from Wimo. It's currently in the UK en route :). I am also getting the associated tripod, and a guying system That should give me opportunity to have my hexbeam up high and stable. I ordered from Wimo themselves.

    The G90 - I'm definitely tempted by that one, it might fit a niche for me for digital use with my RM amplifier. I suspect though that the next transceiver purchase will be a secondhand Yaesu mobile system

    I do absolutely love the FT891 as well - the sound is just brilliant, and I tend to get readability compliments from the far side, which is good..


  • #16
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    Also - one of the really good things about the hobby of Amateur Radio, is that it's very Covid-safe..


  • #17
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Yeah DMR is cool but not designed for HAM use, the hotspot makes a difference, I have the pi-star but should get the Openspot 3 tomorrow, yes pricey but better and internal battery and doesn't need a computer to run like the pi which is slow. It can be turned on and off in seconds and doesn't need to be shut down like the pi-star and this happens via the buttons on the openspot 3.

    The crossmode sound quality is supposed to better too on the openspot. + you can create your own private talk groups which would be really convenient but it's only openspot to openspot I think.

    That mast looks handy aright and a good price.


  • #18
    martinedwards
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,043 ✭✭✭martinedwards


    Popoutman wrote: »
    Very valid. These days it's much more likely that the neighbour's network hardware between their Eircom router and their Sky box is making a hash of the shortwave spectrum..

    My son's Phone charger was buzzing along nicely to me calling CQ on CW. :o


  • #19
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    martinedwards wrote: »
    My son's Phone charger was buzzing along nicely to me calling CQ on CW. :o

    what ? really ? rf issues lol. Need resonant antenna perhaps ?


  • #20
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Popoutman wrote: »
    I I am suspecting that the immediate next door (those that are currently bathing in RF from their powerline ethernet boxes of crap) are 5G deniers, so I'm waiting for the explosion of indignation about what I am doing in the comfort of my backyard.. That'll be a fun conversation, as I worked out that their crappy adapters are putting into their house somewhere between x100 and x1000 the level of RF that my antennas put out. Add to that their crappy boxes put a few dB of noise onto the amateur bands and their arguments become utterly pointless.

    You can have Comreg investigate this issue, you have a legal right as per international law not to have the ham radio frequencies interfered with and the person with the offending device has no legal right to be interfering with these frequencies no matter where they got them and no matter what fake marking is on the box, same goes with LEDs a lot of People do not understand that by having interfering led bulbs they're breaking the law, ignorance is no excuse, buy something on Ebay or junck brands in Woodies and it's your fault.

    A lot of broadband issues are related to bad laptop power supplies or bad switch mode power supplies in general.

    A lad in my old work place used to work for Eir and he discovered that a lot of issues were coming from these devices and more than one person with the dodgy device was made to remove them as it was interfering with their broadband service.

    Unfortunately when it comes to amateur radio the person most likely won't know what you're talking about and might think you're on drugs or think there's something mentally wrong with you, so best to have Comreg have someone call out.


  • #21
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    Here's the extent of their interference. Best heard when they do some form of file transfer and the RFI kicks up a few notches, and it lifts the noise floor by a few dB in the notches that are in the system's RF usage:

    Pics are large.

    12m:
    mtA5DUF.png

    15m:
    pSxD4V2.png

    17m:
    yIsA0nZ.png

    20m:
    kscpSvg.png


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  • #22
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Have you got an audio sample ?


  • #23
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    No audio samples at the moment, but it can be heard on the Kiwis quite clearly, I haven't tried to hear the interference on the protected frequencies yet.
    I have a nice cheap SW listening radio that picks it up really clearly, but those frequencies are not protected.


  • #24
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    Updates.

    My FoldingAntennas Hexbeam arrived, I put it together without many issues. The mast and guying system also arrived. First attempt to put up at 12m height made me feel a little uneasy about how much the top was moving around, so I took two sections out and put the hexbeam fibreglass fixing post into the third section's clamp for a very positive hold. I have the Hexbeam at the top of 7 sections of the mast, so about 9m above the ground, and it's well guyed. I am happy enough to have it up during high winds as I was watching how little it moves in the gusts, I'm really glad the Hexbeam has very little wind load.

    The usable results? Well yesterday I had SSB contacts on 10m into Italy and Spain, and 6m into Majorca and Tarragona in Spain, and FT8 contacts on all bands tried. Very happy with how open the bands were, I now have a better understanding of how things are supposed to behave under normal non-solar-minimum conditions, and my appetite is whetted for the future.

    I also had SSB contact on 20m into Bonaire Island and Curacao on Sunday evening, and both stations reported my having a huge clean signal at 59+ to them. I had 57-58 contacts to the American Midwest at about the same time.

    I have a suspicion that I have a narrow lobe on the rear-side of the antenna that is allowing strangely high sensitivity at times, I could hold an SSB conversation with an Italian station (my report was 57-58) when the antenna was pointed to Florida at 280 degrees.

    However the FT8 station A91APD in Bahrain has not responded to my FT8 calls, though I could hear them at -5dB..

    The DX Commander antenna is genuinely amazing, and for the size and space it doesn't take up it is an impressive performer. I am tempted to upgrade to the Nebula antenna that Callum has just released with an 18m pole and the possibility of an 80m 1/4 wave vertical and 40m and 20m 5/8 waves (better dB gain at 5-10 degrees compared to the 1/4 wave). However, with the Hexbeam, I'm seeing SNR improvements of 14-18dB when on-axis for certain signals and that is a huge difference for making signals hearable.

    An interesting observation is that the direction to places is a little non-intuitive if one is used to seeing Mercator projections - it's not intuitive that Sydney Australia is closest at 53 degrees to the NE, and Christchurch is at ~348 degrees to the NNW, and that California is at 311 degrees and Miami Florida is at very slightly north of West at 274 degrees. If one keeps a straight line (note not a constant compass bearing) starting due west from Kerry, the next landmass hit is actually Cuba and not Newfoundland. Great Circles are weird, and Azimuthal projections can be exceptionally useful for radio directions.

    I'm currently at 94 DXCC countries/entities worked in 9 weeks of holding the license, and north of 60 of those are by voice. I've contacted all continents via FT8, and I have only Oceania to contact by voice to make it all continents by phone.

    I now feel a decent QRO amplifier 1-1.5kW in my near future, funds allowing (the Q7 car tax is also due this month..) And the neighbours have not indicated they have any issues, so all good..


  • #25
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Popoutman wrote: »
    Updates.

    My FoldingAntennas Hexbeam arrived, I put it together without many issues. The mast and guying system also arrived. First attempt to put up at 12m height made me feel a little uneasy about how much the top was moving around, so I took two sections out and put the hexbeam fibreglass fixing post into the third section's clamp for a very positive hold. I have the Hexbeam at the top of 7 sections of the mast, so about 9m above the ground, and it's well guyed. I am happy enough to have it up during high winds as I was watching how little it moves in the gusts, I'm really glad the Hexbeam has very little wind load.

    The usable results? Well yesterday I had SSB contacts on 10m into Italy and Spain, and 6m into Majorca and Tarragona in Spain, and FT8 contacts on all bands tried. Very happy with how open the bands were, I now have a better understanding of how things are supposed to behave under normal non-solar-minimum conditions, and my appetite is whetted for the future.

    I also had SSB contact on 20m into Bonaire Island and Curacao on Sunday evening, and both stations reported my having a huge clean signal at 59+ to them. I had 57-58 contacts to the American Midwest at about the same time.

    I have a suspicion that I have a narrow lobe on the rear-side of the antenna that is allowing strangely high sensitivity at times, I could hold an SSB conversation with an Italian station (my report was 57-58) when the antenna was pointed to Florida at 280 degrees.

    However the FT8 station A91APD in Bahrain has not responded to my FT8 calls, though I could hear them at -5dB..

    The DX Commander antenna is genuinely amazing, and for the size and space it doesn't take up it is an impressive performer. I am tempted to upgrade to the Nebula antenna that Callum has just released with an 18m pole and the possibility of an 80m 1/4 wave vertical and 40m and 20m 5/8 waves (better dB gain at 5-10 degrees compared to the 1/4 wave). However, with the Hexbeam, I'm seeing SNR improvements of 14-18dB when on-axis for certain signals and that is a huge difference for making signals hearable.

    An interesting observation is that the direction to places is a little non-intuitive if one is used to seeing Mercator projections - it's not intuitive that Sydney Australia is closest at 53 degrees to the NE, and Christchurch is at ~348 degrees to the NNW, and that California is at 311 degrees and Miami Florida is at very slightly north of West at 274 degrees. If one keeps a straight line (note not a constant compass bearing) starting due west from Kerry, the next landmass hit is actually Cuba and not Newfoundland. Great Circles are weird, and Azimuthal projections can be exceptionally useful for radio directions.

    I'm currently at 94 DXCC countries/entities worked in 9 weeks of holding the license, and north of 60 of those are by voice. I've contacted all continents via FT8, and I have only Oceania to contact by voice to make it all continents by phone.

    I now feel a decent QRO amplifier 1-1.5kW in my near future, funds allowing (the Q7 car tax is also due this month..) And the neighbours have not indicated they have any issues, so all good..

    It's a really great hobby, so much to do, so much to learn. I'm happy enough with my EFHW 8010 for now, just last Friday I think it was I had a quick QSO with a station in Sydney on 40m, I had the Acom 1000 on, I did make it before with 100 watts.

    That same night I even heard traffic from Australia for the first time on 80m but it was weak but heard an Irish Ham make contact with 2 of them, he was using a home made vertical. So it's something I must look into in the future, maybe make a loading coil and some wire and my 12 M spiderbeam.

    Interestingly my MPAS 2.0 performs quite well especially on 20m with just the single counterpoise. I can get to South America on it SSB @100W, I've made several contacts to South America with it.

    On 40M Monday Night on FT8 and 50W I got to Antarctica to a research station. Pretty chuffed with that because Performance would be down with this antenna on 40m but I must try it with more radials.

    I would like a 20 meter tower and Optibeam.......someday, for now I don't have the time for this kind of investment and I spent way too much since May 2015 already.

    regarding contacts replying on FT8, yes I have a big issue with stations not replying despite them hearing me and I them but at least I can see how far I'm being heard, pskreporter is a great tool to have, FT8 stations can set filters to only respond to stations of interest and this is a real shame.

    I love PSK31 and Olivia, they are great digital modes for keyboard to keyboard QSO.

    Even though solar activity is very low the bands are very far from dead.

    If you're considering an Amp I can definitely recommend the Acom 1000, it's so easy to tune and it's got an Attenuator feature which you engage before tuning so you don't have to turn the power down on your radio each time. It's something I hope to keep forever.


  • #26
    orm0nd
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,232 ✭✭✭orm0nd


    Popoutman wrote: »
    Updates.

    My FoldingAntennas Hexbeam arrived, I put it together without many issues. The mast and guying system also arrived. First attempt to put up at 12m height made me feel a little uneasy about how much the top was moving around, so I took two sections out and put the hexbeam fibreglass fixing post into the third section's clamp for a very positive hold. I have the Hexbeam at the top of 7 sections of the mast, so about 9m above the ground, and it's well guyed. I am happy enough to have it up during high winds as I was watching how little it moves in the gusts, I'm really glad the Hexbeam has very little wind load.

    The usable results? Well yesterday I had SSB contacts on 10m into Italy and Spain, and 6m into Majorca and Tarragona in Spain, and FT8 contacts on all bands tried. Very happy with how open the bands were, I now have a better understanding of how things are supposed to behave under normal non-solar-minimum conditions, and my appetite is whetted for the future.

    I also had SSB contact on 20m into Bonaire Island and Curacao on Sunday evening, and both stations reported my having a huge clean signal at 59+ to them. I had 57-58 contacts to the American Midwest at about the same time.

    I have a suspicion that I have a narrow lobe on the rear-side of the antenna that is allowing strangely high sensitivity at times, I could hold an SSB conversation with an Italian station (my report was 57-58) when the antenna was pointed to Florida at 280 degrees.

    However the FT8 station A91APD in Bahrain has not responded to my FT8 calls, though I could hear them at -5dB..

    The DX Commander antenna is genuinely amazing, and for the size and space it doesn't take up it is an impressive performer. I am tempted to upgrade to the Nebula antenna that Callum has just released with an 18m pole and the possibility of an 80m 1/4 wave vertical and 40m and 20m 5/8 waves (better dB gain at 5-10 degrees compared to the 1/4 wave). However, with the Hexbeam, I'm seeing SNR improvements of 14-18dB when on-axis for certain signals and that is a huge difference for making signals hearable.

    An interesting observation is that the direction to places is a little non-intuitive if one is used to seeing Mercator projections - it's not intuitive that Sydney Australia is closest at 53 degrees to the NE, and Christchurch is at ~348 degrees to the NNW, and that California is at 311 degrees and Miami Florida is at very slightly north of West at 274 degrees. If one keeps a straight line (note not a constant compass bearing) starting due west from Kerry, the next landmass hit is actually Cuba and not Newfoundland. Great Circles are weird, and Azimuthal projections can be exceptionally useful for radio directions.

    I'm currently at 94 DXCC countries/entities worked in 9 weeks of holding the license, and north of 60 of those are by voice. I've contacted all continents via FT8, and I have only Oceania to contact by voice to make it all continents by phone.

    I now feel a decent QRO amplifier 1-1.5kW in my near future, funds allowing (the Q7 car tax is also due this month..) And the neighbours have not indicated they have any issues, so all good..

    We had a ft 8 qso on 15m about a week ago , I saw you on earlier to day trying for that guy in Sudan ( I Think) . I was throwing everything bar the kitchen sink at him ,to no avail. I hadn't much time and came back a couple of hours later and he was still on but I wasn't copying him.


    running an old hexbeam here which has been patched up a good few times over the years

    Been meaning to erect something for dx on 80 & 160 this winter but so far haven't made a move.

    worked ZL on 40 the other evening and a few VK's on different bands but other than that nothing exotic.

    watch out for openings on LP , point the hex south west and you'll be amazed at the signals from pacific area.

    73 & GD DX


  • #27
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    orm0nd wrote: »
    We had a ft 8 qso on 15m about a week ago , I saw you on earlier to day trying for that guy in Sudan ( I Think) . I was throwing everything bar the kitchen sink at him ,to no avail. I hadn't much time and came back a couple of hours later and he was still on but I wasn't copying him.
    Ah yes, I have you now, you don't have much of an address on QRZ other than the nearest town. You're the other side of the river from me. I was curious where you actually were, given how loud you were to me here!

    orm0nd wrote: »
    watch out for openings on LP , point the hex south west and you'll be amazed at the signals from pacific area.
    Good point - I had not thought much about long path, but of course it may work better than a short path through the auroral regions. Cheers for the pointer.


  • #28
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Did any of you hit that Antarctica station on FT8 the last few nights ?


  • #29
    Malmsteen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 131 ✭✭Malmsteen


    Hi There Popoutman can I ask what SDR software that is and do you have a link?
    Thanks. 73.


  • #30
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.sdr-radio.com/download

    It's SDR Console, Windows only Unfortunately.


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  • #31
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    Yep, I am using SDR Console, written by the same guy that wrote the free versions of Ham Radio Deluxe.

    I use it for a handful of reasons:
    • I can have multiple "profiles" with an instance for each of my SDRs - so one pane for an HF+ Discovery, and another with the output from an RSP1a, and a third from an Airspy, for example.
    • There's a pretty good network client for streaming the SDR's output to an SDR console window on another PC on the network.
    • With the FT-891 and my modification of the buffer amp board picking off signal at the first IF point, I can have a very effective panadapter-type output. Plus, I click on the waterfall and the radio tunes to that point. Absolutely fantastic for hunting for signals.
    • There's an ability to use the ILGRadio SWL database to figure out what the source of a signal may be.
    • The noise cancelling is impressive.
    • I like the look of the waterfall in the "inferno" colour palette. Never underestimate the usefulness of a reasonable UI when spending a fair bit of time looking at it..

    I do use the other SDR software packages, but for my use case the SDR Console ticks the most boxes as the actual radio interface UI.


  • #32
    orm0nd
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,232 ✭✭✭orm0nd


    Popoutman wrote: »


    Good point - I had not thought much about long path, but of course it may work better than a short path through the auroral regions. Cheers for the pointer.

    I believe UK stations were working VK and ZL past couple of evenings on 20 mtrs. just after dusk


  • #33
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    Finally have an amplifier on the way.

    I'm buying a secondhand SPE Expert 1.3KW solid-state amp with inbuilt ATU.
    Works 160m through 4m, network controllable, two rig input, four antenna output, lots of protections internally, 9kg, 12" x 15" x 5 1/2";

    That'll have enough headroom to lope along all day at the legal limit, whatever EU-based legal limit that is :)

    Might even keep up with the Italians during contest days when we're apparently allowed up the power output, and both of my antennas and coax feeders can handle the amp's full power output.

    I'll have to carefully calculate the safe distances from antennas to people and get that right, have to conform correctly to the license safety requirements. Based on my calculations, my Hexbeam antenna would require at absolute minimum 12m from the front of the beam for safety under 400W conditions (gain of ~10dB gived ERP of 4000W out the front; and if at contesting power then 28m from the front. Of course at 8m up it's perfectly safe to sit under at max power given the field shape, but still would have to watch the direction to the neighbours in suburbia..


  • #34
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Popoutman wrote: »
    Finally have an amplifier on the way.

    I'm buying a secondhand SPE Expert 1.3KW solid-state amp with inbuilt ATU.
    Works 160m through 4m, network controllable, two rig input, four antenna output, lots of protections internally, 9kg, 12" x 15" x 5 1/2";

    That'll have enough headroom to lope along all day at the legal limit, whatever EU-based legal limit that is :)

    Might even keep up with the Italians during contest days when we're apparently allowed up the power output, and both of my antennas and coax feeders can handle the amp's full power output.

    I'll have to carefully calculate the safe distances from antennas to people and get that right, have to conform correctly to the license safety requirements. Based on my calculations, my Hexbeam antenna would require at absolute minimum 12m from the front of the beam for safety under 400W conditions (gain of ~10dB gived ERP of 4000W out the front; and if at contesting power then 28m from the front. Of course at 8m up it's perfectly safe to sit under at max power given the field shape, but still would have to watch the direction to the neighbours in suburbia..

    Sh1t Man, if that's the same Amp I'm looking at it can do up to 1.5 Kw and costs 3400 Pounds ? :eek: haha

    Hard to resist spending money on the Hobby! :D

    Does the hex offer a 10 db gain ? I hope in a couple of years I can have a Quad band Optibeam and 30 meter tower.

    I'm not sure you can run big power like that in a contest without registering for a temporary contest license ?

    The band plan and power limits are on the IRTS site.

    I'm currently using the myantennas.com EFHW-8010 as a base antenna and quite happy with it to be honest, get great DX with it too and good local coverage, it's in kinda inverted L config so might not provide the best for local or NVIS so when some locals come back to me saying oh you're only 20 over and such and such is 30 over or a Ham friend of mine in Belgium is coming back with a S10 and another chap from Ireland he's chatting to he is giving an S15 so it's a bit of a p1ssing contest. My antenna config isn't designed in this config to provide max radiation for NVIS however the real great thing about that is that some chap from Brazil was calling me one night over the Lad in Belgium and Greystones, they couldn't hear him and he couldn't hear them as he was only calling my call sign, this was on 40m so I had QSO with him but I am really happy still with this Antenna.

    Anyway, the reason I got the Acom 1000 was because I didn't want a solid state Amp and because it can output full power up to 3:1 mismatch which is great because most solid state amps need a tuner from above 1:5:1 and this can add a lot of expense and because the EFHW has under 2.2:1 SWR on most bands this means I can operate any band from 80-10m without a tuner except 60m.

    The Acom 1000 has many safety features too for HAMs like me who never used a Valve Amp before + it has an attenuation so you don't have to turn the power down for tuning and tuning is simple and takes seconds.

    I would like 160m, I can use the EFHW-8010 on 160m but at much reduce performance because the UNUN causes more losses on non resonant bands but I have got to the East of England with it and a tuner before but SWR is around 10:1.

    I have space for 160m but unfortunately at the bottom quarter there is a 10 Kva power line so it limits my ability to erect an 80 meter long antenna.


  • #35
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    As for the temporary contesting license I have to do a bit of research for that, but I've not seen indications that it's required, but I'd like to be corrected on that. It appears that it's already built-in to the license. My reading of the IRTS site and the Comreg regs, suggests that it's just the contest days that determine whether the extra power is required. Either way I won't be exceeding the normal limit until I have some definitive clarification on that, but the following is interesting reading from https://www.comreg.ie/industry/radio-spectrum/licensing/search-licence-type/radio-amateurs-2/:
    Radio Amateur Contests
    The table below provides a list of all Radio Amateur contests where licensed Radio Amateurs are temporarily permitted to transmit increased power for the duration of the contest. Transmission at the increased power outside of the contest date is not permitted and is a breach of the Radio Amateur licence conditions.
    (note that it does not say that taking part in the contest is a requirement for the temporarily-increased power limit, but one may assume that this is in fact the expected reading of the regs. But.. I also know for a fact that Comreg have ambiguities in their documentation.

    I am getting the amp secondhand and not for that price - I really don't have *that* much disposable income.
    Getting an amp that has that much headroom pretty much ensures that I'll have perfect linearity and low IMD etc when operating at the normal legal limit, as the amp will be well within the design envelope. Having the headroom will keep the engineer in me happy. The fact it can auto-tune for the band without input does help me with implementing an idea or project of mine to have remote radio equipment that is not heating up the shack. but that can be completely and safely controlled over the network.

    Agreed regarding SWR and solidstate amps, one must be rather careful compared to tube amps. This SPE Expert one does have an inbuilt ATU and will handle full power 3:1 and reduced power 5:1. At least the antennas I have available are low-SWR and all lower than 2:1 across my band usage.

    The DXC provides a really low SWR on the all the installed bands, and would be runnable without the tuner, and could run full tilt as well. Plus the 50m of Hyperflex-10 coax from the rig to the antenna also ensures I'm not creating a hot bottleneck along that route.

    The Hexbeam - I am incredibly happy with it. It does appear to have a proper 10dB gain to the front, and at least 7dB for a 90 degree wedge either side of front. Of course, much lower sensitivity to the side and rear but I do have a narrow high-gain line to the direct rear for some reason. SWR curves are all generally lower than 1.7:1 for the band width. I got a Hygain AR-500X rotator secondhand, and that sits on top of the push-up mast, sitting happily at 7m up and twisting the Hexbeam adequately. Pity there's no PC control possible with it without rolling my own driver and IR sending to the inner unit. The tripod width and the height of the mast are not the best for stability at that height, the configuration of the mast I am using can go to 9m but the assembly is a little bit "nervous" until I get the guys taut. Given that I have to have it as temporary so that it's not falling foul of planning, I don't have the alu mast set as well as I'd like, as the hexbeams do like their height. If one can run it at 14m up, it should be a very interesting DX antenna. Mine is begin fed with a 50m length of Ultraflex-7, and the 6m element I go for the hex has been used effectively over the past month or so..

    The Aerial-51 807-HD can take 600W for most bands, (150W for 30m though) and is low enough SWR that it should not *need* the tuner but the tuner will be useful.

    Right now, I've only got my 2m/70cm Yagi and the DXC up, I took everything down to perform some maintenance when it wasn't windy, and I'll put up the Hexbeam later in the week / next week, once I get further clarification on planning - that fight is not yet over..

    In your case, instead of going long for 160, why not go up: https://www.spiderbeam.com/product_info.php?info=p337_160m%20Wire%20Vertical%20kit%20including%2018m%20fiberglass%20pole.html You appear to have the room and you don't have neighbours to complain about it overshadowing!

    I got the DX 12m pole, and I hope in the next few weeks to be able to put it up as an 80m linear-loaded vertical, with a 60m and 30m element on it as well if needed. Just waiting for Callum to be able to move his location and get back to the R&D on it


  • #36
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    The beauty of the valve rigs is that, well at least in the case of the Acom 1000, it can output the full 1Kw at up to 3:1 SWR can't do that with Solid state even with a tuner.

    What's your QTH again ? what's the issue with planning ? problem with neighbours ?

    Yeah I got room for antennas but I also have a mature garden I don't want to destroy, verticals are a pain, it would have to be in the middle of the back lawn with tonnes of radials. It would work in the bottom quarter of the garden but very sadly for me the 10 Kva power line makes this impossible. I would love a full size vertical for 80m but this power line really restricts me but a 20-30m tower would be ideal and do-a-ble but I've spent enough for now and enjoy using the EFHW-8010, it's a great antenna, I've had lots of DX fun with it. And I don't really have the time to justify investing on tower, optibeam, rotator, installation etc. It's a 5K or more investment.

    Getting a suitable tower in Ireland is hard enough, ensuring it's built properly is equally difficult then getting someone to lay the foundation, base etc this is beyond my skill.

    The power limits make no sense especially 10 watts on 160m. We're constantly being drowned out by high power stations with high gain beam antennas and lots of splatter from over driven amps and audio, not that I am wanting to cause splatter but 400 watts is a little on the low side.

    I had a lot of fun with 100 watts but being shouted over by 1.5-2 Kw of power and big beam antennas gets old, these days, as soon as a DX station starts calling they can be easily seen on the waterfall, then they're up on DX cluster so within 5 mins there could be thousands of mega power stations calling, it kind of takes the good out of it if it's so easy.

    Still, having the extra power is nice to have a QSO with someone over a noisy band or conditions might not be so good when you're talking to someone state side and the power really does help.


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  • #37
    orm0nd
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,232 ✭✭✭orm0nd


    I've have an old ranger 811 here for years does what I need. Replaced the tubes with Taylor 811 s a good few years ago. It popped one of the tubes a few weeks back. Some bang and also blew the fuse on the power socket and tripped the internal trip

    Dx shop recommended replacing with 572s but his prices for same are crazy.

    RF parts don't have Taylor tubes in stock. They had them the time the amp blew but I couldn't get the amp to power up then.

    For now I put back 1 of the original 811. Well down on power but tipping along.

    Would like a new amp but cash flow and my interest in the hobby doesn't justify.

    If I do come across a few euros some time I might price a om power. They seem to be getting good reviews but for now the ranger will have to do.


  • #38
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    orm0nd wrote: »
    I've have an old ranger 811 here for years does what I need. Replaced the tubes with Taylor 811 s a good few years ago. It popped one of the tubes a few weeks back. Some bang and also blew the fuse on the power socket and tripped the internal trip

    Dx shop recommended replacing with 572s but his prices for same are crazy.

    RF parts don't have Taylor tubes in stock. They had them the time the amp blew but I couldn't get the amp to power up then.

    For now I put back 1 of the original 811. Well down on power but tipping along.

    Would like a new amp but cash flow and my interest in the hobby doesn't justify.

    If I do come across a few euros some time I might price a om power. They seem to be getting good reviews but for now the ranger will have to do.

    Wow, those OM power amps sure are big power :eek:

    If I were you I'd just fix up the old amp, maybe replace the caps as well.

    Check out the Acom 1000 too, really fast to tune, built in attenuation so I don't have to turn the power down on the radio all the time to tune.

    I love the Ameritron style amps but couldn't find one I wanted anywhere, I would have loved to have seen the valve glow you can't see with the Acom 1000 but I just love the look of the Ameritrons but the Acom 1000 is a really good amp and I've very happy with it.


  • #39
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    Deleted User wrote: »
    The beauty of the valve rigs is that, well at least in the case of the Acom 1000, it can output the full 1Kw at up to 3:1 SWR can't do that with Solid state even with a tuner.
    Amplifier hopefully arrives tomorrow. According to the spec sheet, I should be able to use the full 1.3KW output with tuner up to ~3:1 antenna SWR. Above that SWR, alarms show and drive reduced, and that makes sense. Digital modes are recommended to use the mid-power range if working continually e.g. FM or RTTY, but I expected that - there are not many amps that are guaranteed to push 100% duty cycle at 100% rated power. I think that FT8 on the 1.3KFA V1 should be possible to use at full power though as it's ~40% duty cycle. Amps that I amaware of that can run 100/100 at rated output are the current SPE amplifiers (V2 - mine is a V1), most of the Acoms, iirc the OM with their 4KW output capability, the RF-Kit.de amp, and of course the Alpha amps were famous for the brick-on-the-key demos.

    At least both of my main antennas are more than usable enough without ATU.
    • DXC - <1.5:1 40/30/20/17/15/12/10/6 tuner for 60/80 and almost tunable on 160, and the antenna will take the full 1.5KW
    • Hexbeam: <1.7 20/17/15/12/10/6 and will tune up on 30 and 40, almost tune on 80, no tune on 160 and this antenna will take the full 1.5 KW
    • Aerial-51 807-HD no tuner needed for 80/40/20/17/15/12/10/6, tuner needed on 30 and 60. This antenna is 600W max though.
    • The rest of the antennas I have/have built are ~100W and not in scope for the amp anyway.
    Deleted User wrote: »
    What's your QTH again ? what's the issue with planning ? problem with neighbours ?
    Ugh. QTH is suburban Castletroy, rented house, one of the neighbours made a complaint to Planning about my temporary and portable antennas up on the lawn. A bit of investigation on my part very strongly suggests that a temporary antenna on a lawn is not subject to planning at all as it's not definable as a development under the 2000 Planning act - no works taking place for the erection, no concrete, no permanent installation, etc..
    A wireless or TV antenna on a roof is defined as exempt as long as it's within 6m above the roofline, and a satellite dish on the grounds is exempt as long as it's under 1m and only one of them. The guys in planning have misread the guidelines for the planning and are trying to tell me that they do have the right to request planning for an antenna even though it is not a development under the Acts, and that while I would be exempt with one antenna that putting up a second antenna is in breach of the Planning Acts (without specifying what portion of the acts...)
    My point to the Planning guys is that a) they have no right to request planning for something that is not defined as a development, and b) there's no specific call-out for a non-dish antenna on the house grounds, and that means that if temporary/portable there's no planning required when there's no works or development. I'll always comply with the law. but I will not be restricted if there's someone that is grossly mistaken in their opinion.
    It's apparent as well that even if they did have the right to request planning, by the wording of their own publications there's no limitation on the number of roof antennas that can be put up - the limitation is only for number of dishes. I would expect this to be clarified the next time the Act is modified..

    I know that my case is very much a corner case that is not accounted for within the guidelines and a very rare situation - but the planning office are not applying any semblance of common sense to the situation. It'll be really interesting if they do decide to make their opinion official in an actual decision, as I suspect the Bord won't uphold the opinion of Planning as the opinion contravenes other decisions made in the past as well as directly contravening the relevant Acts

    My suspicion is that there's a curtain-twitcher in the neighbourhood that doesn't like anything new, and instead of being an adult, they're trying to appeal to authority and they will fail.


  • #40
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Popoutman wrote: »
    Amplifier hopefully arrives tomorrow. According to the spec sheet, I should be able to use the full 1.3KW output with tuner up to ~3:1 antenna SWR. Above that SWR, alarms show and drive reduced, and that makes sense. Digital modes are recommended to use the mid-power range if working continually e.g. FM or RTTY, but I expected that - there are not many amps that are guaranteed to push 100% duty cycle at 100% rated power. I think that FT8 on the 1.3KFA V1 should be possible to use at full power though as it's ~40% duty cycle. Amps that I amaware of that can run 100/100 at rated output are the current SPE amplifiers (V2 - mine is a V1), most of the Acoms, iirc the OM with their 4KW output capability, the RF-Kit.de amp, and of course the Alpha amps were famous for the brick-on-the-key demos.

    At least both of my main antennas are more than usable enough without ATU.
    • DXC - <1.5:1 40/30/20/17/15/12/10/6 tuner for 60/80 and almost tunable on 160, and the antenna will take the full 1.5KW
    • Hexbeam: <1.7 20/17/15/12/10/6 and will tune up on 30 and 40, almost tune on 80, no tune on 160 and this antenna will take the full 1.5 KW
    • Aerial-51 807-HD no tuner needed for 80/40/20/17/15/12/10/6, tuner needed on 30 and 60. This antenna is 600W max though.
    • The rest of the antennas I have/have built are ~100W and not in scope for the amp anyway.


    Ugh. QTH is suburban Castletroy, rented house, one of the neighbours made a complaint to Planning about my temporary and portable antennas up on the lawn. A bit of investigation on my part very strongly suggests that a temporary antenna on a lawn is not subject to planning at all as it's not definable as a development under the 2000 Planning act - no works taking place for the erection, no concrete, no permanent installation, etc..
    A wireless or TV antenna on a roof is defined as exempt as long as it's within 6m above the roofline, and a satellite dish on the grounds is exempt as long as it's under 1m and only one of them. The guys in planning have misread the guidelines for the planning and are trying to tell me that they do have the right to request planning for an antenna even though it is not a development under the Acts, and that while I would be exempt with one antenna that putting up a second antenna is in breach of the Planning Acts (without specifying what portion of the acts...)
    My point to the Planning guys is that a) they have no right to request planning for something that is not defined as a development, and b) there's no specific call-out for a non-dish antenna on the house grounds, and that means that if temporary/portable there's no planning required when there's no works or development. I'll always comply with the law. but I will not be restricted if there's someone that is grossly mistaken in their opinion.
    It's apparent as well that even if they did have the right to request planning, by the wording of their own publications there's no limitation on the number of roof antennas that can be put up - the limitation is only for number of dishes. I would expect this to be clarified the next time the Act is modified..

    I know that my case is very much a corner case that is not accounted for within the guidelines and a very rare situation - but the planning office are not applying any semblance of common sense to the situation. It'll be really interesting if they do decide to make their opinion official in an actual decision, as I suspect the Bord won't uphold the opinion of Planning as the opinion contravenes other decisions made in the past as well as directly contravening the relevant Acts

    My suspicion is that there's a curtain-twitcher in the neighbourhood that doesn't like anything new, and instead of being an adult, they're trying to appeal to authority and they will fail.

    That's really good that amp can output full power at up to 3:1 SWR, I never heard of a solid state amp able to do this.

    You know it's very strange but I think I heard you on one of the DMR TG was it the YSF bridge talking about this to someone ? sounds very familiar.

    Yes, it's unfortunate but there are interfering gits that want to make life hard for everyone else just because they can and they are very sad but also very dangerous because they like to cause upset interfering in someone else's life making your business theirs.

    You can get one of those hydraulic masts that can go up quite high, that would be really cool but expensive but so is a tower when you get it installed.

    You know about RF so there's nothing better than an amplifier to highlight a less than perfect antenna system and /or poor grounding.

    I'm very fortunate that my myantennas.com EFHW 8010 causes no stray RF except if I try to operate it on 160m which it will work but I wouldn't use it at more than 100 Watts at 10:1 SWR and I don't have a tuner capable of handling the Acom 1000 and I wouldn't pay 600 odd Euros for a tuner for only 160m which isn't going to help much because it's not designed for 160m it would be a lot better and cheaper just to buy another EFHW for 160m it does get out though @ 100 watts but for best performance I would need to remove the 49:1 UNUN and add a bunch of radials, but that's the beauty of the 49:1 antenna, you don't need radials, just the Coax on the resonant bands is all the counterpoise I need and as a result I have no requirement to have these mad earths going to the shack and I can't because the shack is in the attic and I risk the earth wire resonating causing more problems. I have the UNUN earthed and it did make a big difference to SWR, It's a very short Earth because the UNUN is only around 3 feet above ground where they are said to work best.

    So with a good antenna system you should be fine and if not then earth but sometimes earth can cause more problems.

    IF the neighbours hear you in their stereos or TV you could be in trouble, this could be just down to being too close to them.

    The only Issue I had with RF is that it drove my old Samsung tv mad, turning it on and off, volume up and down and changing channels and it was driving the XYL insane but I later found out it was not the antenna or bad RF issues but the TV touch panel was hyper RF sensitive, I read about these issues on the internet so I gave the TV to my Mother and bought another without this touch sensitive panel.

    IF your UNUN/Balun is getting too warm you'll see the SWR rising so keep an eye on that.

    You're all set with the Hex and DXC for the amp the others you will be limited which is no real problem unless you want to use the wires for NVIS at high power so you can change the transformer or get one of the EFHW, antennas. Hyendfed.nl make great ones, expensive but very high quality, also the myantennas.com EFHW 8010 is great. Loads of companies make them but the quality of the UNUN makes a massive difference to performance, the transformer core materials are crucial so I recommend the hyendfed or myantennas.com.


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