Re: Quantar Extender Cables
This is what I came up with, needs a little bit of refinement though on the width of the board to be supported in the chassis correctly.
I can't find any information on the socket the power supply and power amp use.
If anyone has a picture of the official Motorola set that would help a lot.
On Sat, Mar 29, 2025, 13:08 Jeff Acree via <locustpointlight= [email protected]> wrote: Are there extender cards or cables to aid in Quantar module troubleshooting and tuning?? Other than some content on the W9CR website, which was very useful, I have not been able to find a thing.? ?It seems like I may end up having to use a stripped down Quantar Chassis for this purpose.
?
Thanks!
Jeff? KC8VFN
|
I've always used unslotted tubing. Get
the length set, drill hole all the way through, tap all the way,
use stainless steel machine screw. Never gave me any trouble. Have
a few in the air for 10-plus years (probably 20 years).
Chuck
On 3/30/2025 1:14 PM, John via
groups.io wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hi Reid,
?
Yes, neat
idea extending the mid band loops. Can't you just use those
shredded stainless steel scouring pads? (not steel wool) to
remove the outside anodizing? I find they work great on
aluminum and leave a smooth surface.
?
The
tubing from DX Engineering is the weaker 6063-T5, instead of
the stronger 6061-T6 probably on the Scala. I get my 6061-T6
aluminum from Online Metals. Just mark the cut end with black
magic marker -4 lines at 90 degrees, place? the tubing in a
vise, and cut the 4 slots in about 1 inch with a hacksaw. I
like 4 slots rather than 2 slot lines so the slots are thinner
for the same amount of ID reduction and the slots do not have
to be as long as with 2. I did get the vinyl cap with the hole
drilled for the wire from DX Engineering. Permaseal Ultra Blue
was used for waterproofing.(no acetic acid and really adheres
to aluminum and a good dielectric).
?
The
extended N was from Dave's Hobby Shop (used) Be sure to use
stranded wire. We used silver plated Teflon.?
?
John
?
?
On 03/30/2025 12:05 PM EDT Brandon DX via groups.io
<rfburnz@...> wrote: ?
?
John,
That is an interesting termination you made, definitely
waterproof!
I have enough DB212's. see pic, already de-dimpled and set
to the proper lengths for 52megs
I need to cross cut the ends of the extension pieces.
I found DX Engineering has the exact dia tube w/ ends
already cross cut for hose clamps.
I have to replace the gold colored pieces that came off a
Scala yagi because they are anodized (!)?
If I had access to a water tower I'd place them around the
diameter like they did in Nixa MO.
I just looked at their website but don't see 6M any
longer. Maybe they have them on 10M, since they have two 10M
repeaters (!)
Reid? W6MTF
|
Hi Reid,
?
Yes, neat idea extending the mid band loops. Can't you just use those shredded stainless steel scouring pads? (not steel wool) to remove the outside anodizing? I find they work great on aluminum and leave a smooth surface.
?
The tubing from DX Engineering is the weaker 6063-T5, instead of the stronger 6061-T6 probably on the Scala. I get my 6061-T6 aluminum from Online Metals. Just mark the cut end with black magic marker -4 lines at 90 degrees, place? the tubing in a vise, and cut the 4 slots in about 1 inch with a hacksaw. I like 4 slots rather than 2 slot lines so the slots are thinner for the same amount of ID reduction and the slots do not have to be as long as with 2. I did get the vinyl cap with the hole drilled for the wire from DX Engineering. Permaseal Ultra Blue was used for waterproofing.(no acetic acid and really adheres to aluminum and a good dielectric).
?
The extended N was from Dave's Hobby Shop (used) Be sure to use stranded wire. We used silver plated Teflon.?
?
John
?
?
On 03/30/2025 12:05 PM EDT Brandon DX via groups.io <rfburnz@...> wrote:
?
?
John,
That is an interesting termination you made, definitely waterproof!
I have enough DB212's. see pic, already de-dimpled and set to the proper lengths for 52megs
I need to cross cut the ends of the extension pieces.
I found DX Engineering has the exact dia tube w/ ends already cross cut for hose clamps.
I have to replace the gold colored pieces that came off a Scala yagi because they are anodized (!)?
If I had access to a water tower I'd place them around the diameter like they did in Nixa MO.
I just looked at their website but don't see 6M any longer. Maybe they have them on 10M, since they have two 10M repeaters (!)
Reid? W6MTF
|
John,
That is an interesting termination you made, definitely waterproof!
I have enough DB212's. see pic, already de-dimpled and set to the proper lengths for 52megs
I need to cross cut the ends of the extension pieces.
I found DX Engineering has the exact dia tube w/ ends already cross cut for hose clamps.
I have to replace the gold colored pieces that came off a Scala yagi because they are anodized (!)?
If I had access to a water tower I'd place them around the diameter like they did in Nixa MO.
I just looked at their website but don't see 6M any longer. Maybe they have them on 10M, since they have two 10M repeaters (!)
Reid? W6MTF
|
Re: THREAT TO 222-225MHz Spectrum
Bryan pointed out the STA info was included in the first post, thanks. I'm listening to the 220 band in SSB mode from So Cal right now and see what looks like radar from roughly 217 to 222MHz. When listening in the 222.000 to 222.050 range reserved for EME I am getting a little interference from the radar using an Icom R-8600 receiver and discone antenna.?
|
I am curious as to ?what does this internet guy bothering the owner with his in and out has anything to do with ham radio operators?.. something does not make sense.
On Saturday, March 29, 2025, 10:52 PM, Hudson, John@CalOES via groups.io <john.hudson@...> wrote:
I’d love to have a conversation with you, I have two on 42MHz and looking to modify them for 6 and phase them together, both have directors.
?
John, WA6HYQ
jake@...
?
?
This Message is From an External Sender
This message came from outside your organization.
?
This thread got me thinking of my DB224. thats me holding it.
I measured the spacing from DE to director this morning and its a just under 14"
I don't know what freq it was delivered on but most of the antennas I acquired in a lot were on 70 MHz with the exception of one on 39 something MHz.? to alter the spacing I would need to cut and weld onto the boom, its all one piece.?
? ?
I was planning to use it at a site with a bare 300ft tower, it was at 3800ft ele and was pristine (meaning low noise floor) and perfect for 6M.
It had served a religious TV station that went dark and the site owner gave an OK for me to go up on 6M.
Along came some enterprising soul that installed an Internet distribution antenna and was selling service to residents of the small city below the site. He was going in and out sometimes several times a day and annoyed the old timer who
controlled site access and the owner finally said that was enough, no hams allowed!? ?
WARNING: Do not click links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the email is safe.
?
|
Re: THREAT TO 222-225MHz Spectrum
Does anyone know the STA info and what specific frequency range the license is for? Is it actually within the 220 amateur band or adjacent? Either way its good for amateurs to make it known if any interference is detected and get that on record with the FCC and ARRL.?
?
|
Re: THREAT TO 222-225MHz Spectrum
This is not that un-common.
There are STAs issued quite often for operations in and around multiple amateur bands.
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hey Guys,
?
I know you're not in Southern California however, we've recently had the FCC issue Experimental Licenses to a company that is testing a Radar System with 10KW ERP causing interference to several Amateur Repeaters in the Los Angeles basin. The FCC Enforcement
Bureau from the Cerritos Office was successful to get them off the air as we are Primary on the band.
?
But, now the same company has received a Experimental License to conduct the same testing at the Yuma, Arizona proving grounds with an ERP of 7KW which will cause interference to 220 repeaters from Arizona to southern mountains bordering Imperial, San
Diego, Riverside and even San Bernardino County. This is a serious threat to our spectrum and we need to protect it. If you were around during the UPS spectrum grab of 220-222MHz you'll know what I mean.
?
I am the President of the 220 Spectrum Management Association which is the Radio Amateur organization who coordinates repeater channels in Southern California (). Please check
this out, if this can happen in LA, it can and left uncheck will anywhere else.
?
John N. Hudson III, WA6HYQ
iPhone: 6192648934
?
|
Re: THREAT TO 222-225MHz Spectrum
Hi John,
I'm sorry to hear this news. Where is the ARRL in all of this?? The?ARRL often claims how much they do for ham radio and how they are the sole representative of amateur radio with the FCC!? Where is their ARRL WDC council?
Good Luck, dave wa3gin
On Sun, Mar 30, 2025 at 8:09?AM John N. Hudson III via <jake= [email protected]> wrote:
Hey Guys,
?
I know you're not in Southern California however, we've recently had the FCC issue Experimental Licenses to a company that is testing a Radar System with 10KW ERP causing interference to several Amateur Repeaters in the Los Angeles basin. The FCC Enforcement Bureau from the Cerritos Office was successful to get them off the air as we are Primary on the band.
?
But, now the same company has received a Experimental License to conduct the same testing at the Yuma, Arizona proving grounds with an ERP of 7KW which will cause interference to 220 repeaters from Arizona to southern mountains bordering Imperial, San Diego, Riverside and even San Bernardino County. This is a serious threat to our spectrum and we need to protect it. If you were around during the UPS spectrum grab of 220-222MHz you'll know what I mean.
?
I am the President of the 220 Spectrum Management Association which is the Radio Amateur organization who coordinates repeater channels in Southern California (). Please check this out, if this can happen in LA, it can and left uncheck will anywhere else.
?
John N. Hudson III, WA6HYQ
iPhone: 6192648934
?
|
Ics controllers pi zero 1x quantar
Does anyone have a comprehensive operation guide for it?
All I could find is installation manuals at ics controllers.
Thanks
Robert
|
THREAT TO 222-225MHz Spectrum
Hey Guys,
?
I know you're not in Southern California however, we've recently had the FCC issue Experimental Licenses to a company that is testing a Radar System with 10KW ERP causing interference to several Amateur Repeaters in the Los Angeles basin. The FCC Enforcement Bureau from the Cerritos Office was successful to get them off the air as we are Primary on the band.
?
But, now the same company has received a Experimental License to conduct the same testing at the Yuma, Arizona proving grounds with an ERP of 7KW which will cause interference to 220 repeaters from Arizona to southern mountains bordering Imperial, San Diego, Riverside and even San Bernardino County. This is a serious threat to our spectrum and we need to protect it. If you were around during the UPS spectrum grab of 220-222MHz you'll know what I mean.
?
I am the President of the 220 Spectrum Management Association which is the Radio Amateur organization who coordinates repeater channels in Southern California (). Please check this out, if this can happen in LA, it can and left uncheck will anywhere else.
?
John N. Hudson III, WA6HYQ
iPhone: 6192648934
?
|
I’d love to have a conversation with you, I have two on 42MHz and looking to modify them for 6 and phase them together, both have directors.
?
John, WA6HYQ
jake@...
?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
On Behalf Of Brandon DX via groups.io
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2025 10:16 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [repeater-builder] 6 m repeater antenna
?
This Message is From an External Sender
This message came from outside your organization.
?
This thread got me thinking of my DB224. thats me holding it.
I measured the spacing from DE to director this morning and its a just under 14"
I don't know what freq it was delivered on but most of the antennas I acquired in a lot were on 70 MHz with the exception of one on 39 something MHz.? to alter the spacing I would need to cut and weld onto the boom, its all one piece.?
? ?
I was planning to use it at a site with a bare 300ft tower, it was at 3800ft ele and was pristine (meaning low noise floor) and perfect for 6M.
It had served a religious TV station that went dark and the site owner gave an OK for me to go up on 6M.
Along came some enterprising soul that installed an Internet distribution antenna and was selling service to residents of the small city below the site. He was going in and out sometimes several times a day and annoyed the old timer who
controlled site access and the owner finally said that was enough, no hams allowed!? ?
WARNING: Do not click links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the email is safe.
?
|
Hi Brandon,
?
Interesting that your converted from mid band DB225 has a less robust , but more direct clamping to a tower leg, more like the on the DB212.
?
If I were you I would do away with the director and the extra length of boom, especially if you currently have 6.5 inches of air space between the inner tubing side and the mounting mast or tower leg, or remake the boom so that you do have that space and at the same time make the inside half the fed side, just like on a DB212.
?
That got me thinking that for the low band version with a lot more boom length, I would consider not only removing the director element, but also removing the heavy bulky boom mounting pipe, just reverse the boom now without the driven element so the boom points toward? a tower instead of away, then with U bolts fasten the antenna to 2 adjacent tower legs so the leg to element air space is 6.5 inches for a 50 ohm feed.?
?
You could, for 2 antennas in phase, change the element to coax connection to a waterproofed N female on a flange, use an odd multiple of 75 ohm coax to an N tee to the feedline. (See pic)
?
John
On 03/29/2025 1:16 PM EDT Brandon DX via groups.io <rfburnz@...> wrote:
?
?
This thread got me thinking of my DB224. thats me holding it.
I measured the spacing from DE to director this morning and its a just under 14"
I don't know what freq it was delivered on but most of the antennas I acquired in a lot were on 70 MHz with the exception of one on 39 something MHz.? to alter the spacing I would need to cut and weld onto the boom, its all one piece.? ? ?
I was planning to use it at a site with a bare 300ft tower, it was at 3800ft ele and was pristine (meaning low noise floor) and perfect for 6M.
It had served a religious TV station that went dark and the site owner gave an OK for me to go up on 6M.
Along came some enterprising soul that installed an Internet distribution antenna and was selling service to residents of the small city below the site. He was going in and out sometimes several times a day and annoyed the old timer who controlled site access and the owner finally said that was enough, no hams allowed!? ?
Reid
|
Re: Quantar CPN1048G Power Supply
Lead acid and AGM have different charge profiles. Something like 14.2V for most of the charge then a float at around 13.4V for lead acid and 14.7V charge 13.8V float for AGM. The Quantar CPS has battery options for Lead Acid_LIN, Lead Acid_NON and NiCad. NiCad would definitely be a different charge profile from Lead Acid. I think the LIN and NON is simple charging vs having a periodic maintenance charge added or similar.?
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Re: Quantar CPN1048G Power Supply
28 volts is the normal charging voltage for a 24 volt battery bank... Just like 13.8 is the normal charging for 12 volt battery?
Chris WB5ITT?
I've had one running with a pair of 12V 90AH AGM batts for a couple of years and I need to visit the site to check battery condition, otherwise its held up through a few power outages. I've also run one temporarily from a pair of Costco 100AH deep cycple batts. You need to calculate current draw off battery and size your battery to last through a worst case power outage or a trip to the site to deal with it and that could amount to a lot of battery needed. I program my Quantars for 25W when on battery power to extend batt life a little.?
|
Re: Quantar CPN1048G Power Supply
I've had one running with a pair of 12V 90AH AGM batts for a couple of years and I need to visit the site to check battery condition, otherwise its held up through a few power outages. I've also run one temporarily from a pair of Costco 100AH deep cycple batts. You need to calculate current draw off battery and size your battery to last through a worst case power outage or a trip to the site to deal with it and that could amount to a lot of battery needed. I program my Quantars for 25W when on battery power to extend batt life a little.?
|
Are there extender cards or cables to aid in Quantar module troubleshooting and tuning?? Other than some content on the W9CR website, which was very useful, I have not been able to find a thing.? ?It seems like I may end up having to use a stripped down Quantar Chassis for this purpose.
?
Thanks!
Jeff? KC8VFN
|
Re: Quantar CPN1048G Power Supply
What battery do folks usually use for this purpose?? Does it truly need to be a 28V and opposed to a 24 volt battery for safe, reliable operation?? Other than cordless drills and such, 28V batteries seem to be rather rare and expensive.
?
Thanks!
Jeff KC8VFN
|
This thread got me thinking of my DB224. thats me holding it.  I measured the spacing from DE to director this morning and its a just under 14"
I don't know what freq it was delivered on but most of the antennas I acquired in a lot were on 70 MHz with the exception of one on 39 something MHz.? to alter the spacing I would need to cut and weld onto the boom, its all one piece.? ? ?
I was planning to use it at a site with a bare 300ft tower, it was at 3800ft ele and was pristine (meaning low noise floor) and perfect for 6M.
It had served a religious TV station that went dark and the site owner gave an OK for me to go up on 6M.
Along came some enterprising soul that installed an Internet distribution antenna and was selling service to residents of the small city below the site. He was going in and out sometimes several times a day and annoyed the old timer who controlled site access and the owner finally said that was enough, no hams allowed!? ?
Reid
|
Re: Can I use a low power programming cable to program high power astro spectra?
This article will answer a bunch of your spectra questions.
?
As to computers, my primary field programming computer is a Toughbook CF-30 running 32-bit Win7pro.
I also have a CF-31 running Win10-64 for the newer stuff (like Moto APX).
Both live in a hiking backpack and get used at least once a week.
In fact on monday I was at one of the Sheriffs stations programming a couple of the volunteer's radios.
Here's probably too much on field programming computers, I should edit it and update it.
Mike WA6ILQ
?
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Brandon DX
Dave Jordan
John N. Hudson III
Hudson, John@CalOES
Chris Boone WB5ITT