Opps...pressed the wrong button. Keep reading below....
On Monday, December 13, 2021, 02:22:45 PM EST, Jack Purdum <jjpurdum@...> wrote:
If you want a small self-contained antenna and tuner for SOTA activations, take a look at:
It's reasonably priced and there are a lot of people out there who say it does a good job. Do a little searching and I'm sure you can find some reviews of it.
Jack, W8TEE
On Monday, December 13, 2021, 01:15:06 PM EST, kc2wan@... <kc2wan@...> wrote:
My qcx+40 kit will be my first HF radio, so forgive me for my ignorance.? I've been trying to look up info online about a good first antenna to build, but every guide or video I find assumes I have a high power multi-band radio with an integrated tuner.? Can anyone point me towards some instructions or a kit for building something simple that's likely to work with a QCX+ on 40M? I don't really have any test equipment beyond a digital multimeter, but I would be willing to buy an analyzer if it's essential.??
I happen to already have:
A spool of 18 awg wire
SO 239 connectors
Dacron cord
electrified fence insulators
I'm mainly planning to use this for POTA and SOTA, I don't really have anywhere to set up an antenna where I live.
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If you want a small self-contained antenna and tuner for SOTA activations, take a look at:
On Monday, December 13, 2021, 01:15:06 PM EST, kc2wan@... <kc2wan@...> wrote:
My qcx+40 kit will be my first HF radio, so forgive me for my ignorance.? I've been trying to look up info online about a good first antenna to build, but every guide or video I find assumes I have a high power multi-band radio with an integrated tuner.? Can anyone point me towards some instructions or a kit for building something simple that's likely to work with a QCX+ on 40M? I don't really have any test equipment beyond a digital multimeter, but I would be willing to buy an analyzer if it's essential.??
I happen to already have:
A spool of 18 awg wire
SO 239 connectors
Dacron cord
electrified fence insulators
I'm mainly planning to use this for POTA and SOTA, I don't really have anywhere to set up an antenna where I live.
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On Sun, Dec 12, 2021 at 04:42 PM, <sylcou12@...> wrote:
Jim, many thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
You're quite welcome, Sly!
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Welcome to the ham world. There are other handy sources, but a good place to look is the QRP Guys. They offer simple and cheap QRP antenna kits.
You¡¯ll want one that covers 40 meters and getting one an LED SWR meter will spare you the cost of a fancier SWR meter. They also include a tune mode that will protect tiye QCX while you tune down a high initial SWR.
¡ªMike Perry, WA4MP
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On Dec 13, 2021, at 12:15 pm, kc2wan@... wrote:
My qcx+40 kit will be my first HF radio, so forgive me for my ignorance. I've been trying to look up info online about a good first antenna to build, but every guide or video I find assumes I have a high power multi-band radio with an integrated tuner.
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For a deployable antenna, I would use either an End fed half wave or a Zepp antenna as these are easy to deploy.
For the End fed half wave, you need a balun 9:1, there are kits.
For the Zepp antenna, you need wire (can be speaker wire!!!) and ideally a NanoVNA to adjust exactly the length.
73,
Yannig, F4IUJ
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Re: Going QRO won't make your life longer ?
I've been in this hobby for about 15 years.? I started as "therapy" to distract me from my day job and to tickle my geek side.? I had seen some articles on QRP radios for backpacking, and thought I should learn Morse, and then take a radio on the trail.? Building stuff, esp. kits, is one of the great joys of this hobby.? So, QRP Labs and these goals go well together.? Great advances in computers and SDR in the last 15 years and lithium batteries have made really practical QRP on the trail possible.
In the meantime, I was also doing a lot of tube stuff.? I have a Collins 30L-1, and have tried QRO.? When the 30L-1 needed a rebuilt PS board, I ordered one.? And, two years later, it is still in the box....
I agree with the above:? QRO power is necessary for contesting.? If you really need to have a SSB voice contact from the east coast of the USA to Asiatic Russia, you may need one.? What else?
QRP is always a thrill.? New digital modes are magic.? Old digital modes are magic.? None of them require, and often don't allow, high power.? I feel like I have actually done something when I have a CW contact with, say, France or Spain on 5 watts.? (Big 80m doublet helps).?
And, I can take everything I need for SOTA or POTA in a backpack.? My QTH is near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, so we have lots of trails and mountain tops.? I can take enough to radio gear to play on a normal backpacking trip.? All of that is impossible with QRO as the basis of one's radio philosophy.
The one change I would make to the QRP-QRO paradigm would be to add a new level at 20-25w.? One really needs this much power to push a SSB signal any distance and it makes CW and digital go a very long way.? The power requirements for 20 watts is manageable with solar and lithium batteries.? I think many people would choose to participate in contests and Field Days with this category as an option.? One year, my friends and I tried 5w QRP for Field Day from a 3500 ft mountain meadow.? It worked, but it was lots of work for each joyful. 20w would be much different.
My applause to Hans and others in this group for making QRP Labs a great resource for us low-power types.
Bevin
K4ALE
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Re: Going QRO won't make your life longer ?
Hi Pat,
Managing power consumption is as much a part of ham radio as choosing an appropriate band and time of day, solar cycle, antenna, etc. Sometimes 1500 Watts is not enough. Other time it takes less than a Watt. I personally use 100 Watts or less - 100 Watts being labeled "Low power". Low power and "QRP" are not the same things. Read *all* of the contest rules. I very rarely crank my 100 Watt radios up to full power and stay below 50 Watts most of the time.
If I operate in an on-air event in the event's "QRP Class" I pay attention to be sure I play by the rules of the event. If the transmitter I use is capable of more than five Watts I dial it down to 3 Watts or less just to be sure. Or..I use one of my rigs that will only make five Watts or (usually) a little less. I have dialed my transmitter down low enough that established ARQ connections did not drop even though no meters were moving!
I am at odds with you about effective antennas. Put up as much antenna as you can. That is the real key to success whether we make 100 milliWatts or 1500 Watts. Wet noodles just don't cut the mustard. Maybe those can snag a QSO sometimes but life is too short for wet noodles.
73,
Bill? KU8H
bark less - wag more
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On 12/13/21 11:20 AM, Pat wrote: I've mentioned this before, but I have always felt that the onus was on the QRP aficionados to send the best signal possible, using the best equipment possible.? I am humbled and appreciate the efforts of other hams to try to pull my weak signal from the ether, or perhaps pull me out of a crowd of other calls.? I recently read an article that mentioned the same, trite saying about life being too short for QRP and it just skewed my opinion of the author's discussion a bit after that.? It makes me wonder about how challenging it is to use 50w, a 100w, 1000w, etc.? If you catch a fish with every cast, how soon would the novelty of fishing wear off?? That's how I feel about QRP.? If I can't be heard with 3w, I'll try another day.? I know not every QSO attempt is going to be successful, which always makes successful QSOs a thrill.? Now, I will concede that there are events when you want to make regular contact with a net, a group of friends for morning chat, etc. I consider that a different form of ham radio, and I see nothing wrong with QRO power for those activities when necessary.? But, fishing for QSOs using hundreds of watts and giant Yagi antennas?? I'd quickly grow tired of the hobby.
My opinion, of course.? I am curious how others feel about QRO.? I have been a ham for nearly 30 years and have never used more than 15w (and that was only recently when I upgraded the firmware on the KX3) on HF.? Using the power required to maintain a QSO, would you use a kilowatt to make a contact?? Would that satisfy you?? I MIGHT use 100w to fish a bit, but I am so used to using less, I'd more likely just try the next day.
73
pat
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My qcx+40 kit will be my first HF radio, so forgive me for my ignorance.? I've been trying to look up info online about a good first antenna to build, but every guide or video I find assumes I have a high power multi-band radio with an integrated tuner.? Can anyone point me towards some instructions or a kit for building something simple that's likely to work with a QCX+ on 40M? I don't really have any test equipment beyond a digital multimeter, but I would be willing to buy an analyzer if it's essential.??
I happen to already have:
A spool of 18 awg wire
SO 239 connectors
Dacron cord
electrified fence insulators
I'm mainly planning to use this for POTA and SOTA, I don't really have anywhere to set up an antenna where I live.
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Re: Going QRO won't make your life longer ?
Using your fishing analogy, I prefer flys vs dynamite.?
On Monday, December 13, 2021, 10:24 AM, Mike Besemer - WM4B <mwbesemer@...> wrote: When I was testing mine, I disconnected the coax from the back of my main rig so I could use that antenna for the QDX.? I got called away for a few minutes and when I came back, my main rig (with nothing attached to the antenna port) was show about a dozen different decodes.? Pretty amazing mode. Mike WM4B > On December 13, 2021 at 12:19 PM Paul? AI4EE < nadie1943@...> wrote: > > > When I first tested my QDX, I set it for only about 2 watts out, fed to > a dummy load. I had not upgraded to 1.02 yet, so I never got to testing > transmit, but while I was trying to figure out my problem (which 1.02 > fixed), I glanced at the WSJT-X screen and saw two stations decoded! > I've heard of transmitting with a dummy load, but never reception. > > > > >
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Re: Going QRO won't make your life longer ?
When I was testing mine, I disconnected the coax from the back of my main rig so I could use that antenna for the QDX. I got called away for a few minutes and when I came back, my main rig (with nothing attached to the antenna port) was show about a dozen different decodes. Pretty amazing mode.
Mike
WM4B
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On December 13, 2021 at 12:19 PM Paul AI4EE <nadie1943@...> wrote:
When I first tested my QDX, I set it for only about 2 watts out, fed to
a dummy load. I had not upgraded to 1.02 yet, so I never got to testing
transmit, but while I was trying to figure out my problem (which 1.02
fixed), I glanced at the WSJT-X screen and saw two stations decoded!
I've heard of transmitting with a dummy load, but never reception.
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Re: Going QRO won't make your life longer ?
When I first tested my QDX, I set it for only about 2 watts out, fed to a dummy load. I had not upgraded to 1.02 yet, so I never got to testing transmit, but while I was trying to figure out my problem (which 1.02 fixed), I glanced at the WSJT-X screen and saw two stations decoded! I've heard of transmitting with a dummy load, but never reception.
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Re: Going QRO won't make your life longer ?
When my QRP cq calls don't get any acknowledgement, I just take a look on the Reverse Beacon Network and almost always find that some of the automatic receivers connected to that have indeed heard my rather feeble outputs. When I say feeble - I am not talking about my QRP-Labs kits, but mostly about my rather poor antennas. My main QTH? in a district which is a conservation area and I have to try to operate with low level, invisible antennas, made out of thin wire - usually about 28 or 26 swg. It is surprising how well these can work. My next project will be an end fed half wave with a 49:1 transformer. I think I can throw a 30 meter end fed over the roof and operate it on 40 and 20 meters. We will see how it does next week.
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Re: Love QRP, Love QRP Labs
If you're planning to sell caps with optional cooling fan I'll
pre-order 5 such caps immediately! :-)
Yes
we were thinking: Mugs, Baseball cap, and T-shirt.
73 SM6LKM
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Re: Going QRO won't make your life longer ?
Yes, never mind that we are bound by our license to use the "least amount of power possible" for our contacts.? I am by nature a person who always loved doing more with less.? As a child I had much more time than money.? I also, at that time had many interests.? Electronics and chemistry ( well actually bomb production and rocketry in the chemistry realm) were primary.? To work in these hobbies I needed to scrimp, save and salvage all I could.? That ethic has to a great extent, never left me.? When I see people throw money or excesses at hobbies and things they do, and then wind up being not very good at them, It makes me sad to think that they may have had a greater experience if they concentrated more on the art and less on the things.? I take much satisfaction and pride in excelling with the least needed.? Merry Christmas!
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:14
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Re: Substitute IRF 530n with IRF 510
On Mon, Dec 13, 2021 at 05:26 AM, Don - KM4UDX wrote:
I¡¯ve put 48v to the 510s, and like Frankenstein, they came alive. Terrifyingly alive. Briefly. My favorite amateur radio accessory is a fire extinguisher.?
That's just a great tale Don.????? >:-) Thanks for that??????? >:-) Just finished a 50w amp kit for 30m that is going to go with my recently built 30m QCX+. Both work well but I did stay within the recommended voltages.....??? guess I'm a wimp??????? >:-) Reg???????????????????? G4NFR
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Re: Going QRO won't make your life longer ?
I've mentioned this before, but I have always felt that the onus was on the QRP aficionados to send the best signal possible, using the best equipment possible.? I am humbled and appreciate the efforts of other hams to try to pull my weak signal from the ether, or perhaps pull me out of a crowd of other calls.? I recently read an article that mentioned the same, trite saying about life being too short for QRP and it just skewed my opinion of the author's discussion a bit after that.? It makes me wonder about how challenging it is to use 50w, a 100w, 1000w, etc.? If you catch a fish with every cast, how soon would the novelty of fishing wear off?? That's how I feel about QRP.? If I can't be heard with 3w, I'll try another day.? I know not every QSO attempt is going to be successful, which always makes successful QSOs a thrill.? Now, I will concede that there are events when you want to make regular contact with a net, a group of friends for morning chat, etc. I consider that a different form of ham radio, and I see nothing wrong with QRO power for those activities when necessary.? But, fishing for QSOs using hundreds of watts and giant Yagi antennas?? I'd quickly grow tired of the hobby.?
My opinion, of course.? I am curious how others feel about QRO.? I have been a ham for nearly 30 years and have never used more than 15w (and that was only recently when I upgraded the firmware on the KX3) on HF.? Using the power required to maintain a QSO, would you use a kilowatt to make a contact?? Would that satisfy you?? I MIGHT use 100w to fish a bit, but I am so used to using less, I'd more likely just try the next day.??
73
pat
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Re: QCX WARC Party - December 2021
Hi All.
had family dities 13:00 but will join on 19:00 and hopefully 30 m will work.
CU
Martin
DK3UW
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Re: Love QRP, Love QRP Labs
Speedo? ? All I can say is, I used to be famous for sporting a Speedo, but then a photo from about 1990 started circulating online about 2000 ¡?
Suffice to say, people in a dozen countries still remember that. ? ¡®Nuff said. ?
73 Jim N6OTQ? Sent from my quenched-gap spark transmitter.?
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On Dec 13, 2021, at 9:43 AM, Pat <pat.ring1@...> wrote:
?I'll commit right now to a mug and a cap.? Maybe some footies pajamas, too.? You can all thank me for not being interested in posting a QRPLabs Speed-O selfie.??
Pat
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Re: Love QRP, Love QRP Labs
I'll commit right now to a mug and a cap.? Maybe some footies pajamas, too.? You can all thank me for not being interested in posting a QRPLabs Speed-O selfie.??
Pat
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Re: Love QRP, Love QRP Labs
Maybe made from Turkish cotton?
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jjpurdum
Jim Allyn - N7JA
Mike Perry, WA4MP
K4ALE
Mike Besemer - WM4B
Chuck ke9uw