Jack,

Just some comments. I think you have the right kind of antenna with the fan
dipoles. You say it is lower than the house; can't you prop up at least some
of it to the height of the house, or a couple of feet more. Have you
determined that the radio puts out the same power on SSB (whistle) as when
you tune up (on CW?) ?

I made most of my early contacts during contests, by answereing calls from
people who did not have big pileups. If they hear you, they will come back
to you. I did get my SSB DXCC with a Junior beam at 28 feet.

To trim a multiple dipole like yours, you have to trim the lowest frequency
first, and work your way up. I have a 40/17/12 antenna like that, and this
is the only way I got it to convege in EZNEC.

Tam/WB2TT
"Jack Twilley" wrote in message
...
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

"Tam" == t-tammaru Tam writes:

Tam Jack, Have you determined that the radio is actually putting out
Tam 100W? The light bulb test should give some indication.

I have an MFJ Versa Tuner II which has a power meter. It's not
laboratory certified, but the needle does go all the way up to 100
when I tune up and transmit.

Tam When I first got licensed on HF I went through a bunch of
Tam antennas at less than 20 feet with essentially 0 results. For
Tam starters, unless you are DX, nobody will talk to you on 75 or 20m
Tam SSB unless you are 5-9.

This disappoints me, and I really hope it's not true.

Tam I made my first contact half way across the country on 15 m by
Tam using a 3 el 6 meter beam at 12 feet (In the attic of a 1 story
Tam house). Try getting out during a contest, but you really want to
Tam get the wire at least 30 feet up. I don't think you mentioned
Tam what the antenna is, or what bands you have tried.

I can't get the wire any higher than it is right now at this current
location. This is pretty much the best I can do, and this little
antenna already totally fills my yard and the yards of each of my
neighbors (with their permission). It's a multiband fan dipole with
three pairs of legs, cut for 40, 20, and 10.

My current goal is to acquire a noise bridge and see where the antenna
resonates, then trim the antenna as necessary until it resonates in
the right places. After that, I'll look into feedline length
modifications as necessary. Hopefully those two approaches will
resolve my current issue.

Jack.
- --
Jack Twilley
jmt at twilley dot org
http colon slash slash www dot twilley dot org slash tilde jmt slash
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (FreeBSD)

iD8DBQFAVNN4GPFSfAB/ezgRAiGkAKDMq+67zZp4MIp8hqcgHPfT7MwVoACfQKKu
/bErYRkiIqpODtXG7DDEuGc=
=Jm0J
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

"Tam" == t-tammaru Tam writes:

Tam Jack, Just some comments. I think you have the right kind of
Tam antenna with the fan dipoles. You say it is lower than the house;
Tam can't you prop up at least some of it to the height of the house,
Tam or a couple of feet more.

Nope, I meant what I said when I said I can't get the wire any higher
than it is right now at this current location.

Tam Have you determined that the radio puts out the same power on SSB
Tam (whistle) as when you tune up (on CW?) ?

No, but I'm not really concerned about SSB versus CW -- I'll operate
CW if that's what it takes, and it'll be incentive to finally learn.

Tam I made most of my early contacts during contests, by answereing
Tam calls from people who did not have big pileups. If they hear you,
Tam they will come back to you. I did get my SSB DXCC with a Junior
Tam beam at 28 feet.

My situation is that I can't make a scheduled contact with someone
twenty miles from my house while we're on the phone. "Can you hear me
on this frequency? Let me key up and you tell me if you can hear me."
That's the kind of thing I'm talking about. Worrying about how to get
lots of contacts is way way in the future -- I'm fixed on worrying
about whether my equipment is even working.

Tam To trim a multiple dipole like yours, you have to trim the lowest
Tam frequency first, and work your way up. I have a 40/17/12 antenna
Tam like that, and this is the only way I got it to convege in EZNEC.

That's the plan, once I get the noise bridge. My environment is too
complex for me to attempt to model it with EZNEC.

Jack.
- --
Jack Twilley
jmt at twilley dot org
http colon slash slash www dot twilley dot org slash tilde jmt slash
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (FreeBSD)

iD8DBQFAVSw7GPFSfAB/ezgRAsstAKCC7WSFI7zfR7YzWIFPkCyrbXKp2ACfdAsM
5H4/fieF982XRX8t76o5BaQ=
=+Ipn
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

"Jack Twilley" wrote in message
...
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Tam Have you determined that the radio puts out the same power on SSB
Tam (whistle) as when you tune up (on CW?) ?

No, but I'm not really concerned about SSB versus CW -- I'll operate
CW if that's what it takes, and it'll be incentive to finally learn.

That's what I am concerened about. You may have a bad mic, or just not
modulating due to some failure. When I wasn't able to get out, I could
alwayds talk to locals. Try CW/carrier with your friend. He doesn't have to
know CW if you are on the phone and he knows your frequency. I would do it
on 10m, away from anybody else. You know you can get 20 miles on CB with 5W,
and you have 100.

Tam/WB2TT

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

"Tam" == t-tammaru Tam writes:

Tam Have you determined that the radio puts out the same power on SSB
Tam (whistle) as when you tune up (on CW?) ?

Jack No, but I'm not really concerned about SSB versus CW -- I'll
Jack operate CW if that's what it takes, and it'll be incentive to
Jack finally learn.

Tam That's what I am concerened about. You may have a bad mic, or
Tam just not modulating due to some failure. When I wasn't able to
Tam get out, I could alwayds talk to locals. Try CW/carrier with your
Tam friend.

I've tried just keying up and I could be heard a mile away, but not
twenty.

Tam He doesn't have to know CW if you are on the phone and he
Tam knows your frequency. I would do it on 10m, away from anybody
Tam else. You know you can get 20 miles on CB with 5W, and you have
Tam 100.

Excellent point.

Tam Tam/WB2TT

Jack.
- --
Jack Twilley
jmt at twilley dot org
http colon slash slash www dot twilley dot org slash tilde jmt slash
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (FreeBSD)

iD8DBQFAVj5KGPFSfAB/ezgRAqwUAKD1H78q6/xrXD5Nn3LS9noF+CQZ2QCg3GOI
cWQRh6xwWdu1tY/dCsUvh4o=
=03FT
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Keep us posted as to what you find out. We could try a sched if it works at
all. I have a lot of free long distance on my cell phone for coordination. I
am in NJ.

Tam/WB2TT

There is no zero or dollar sign in comcast.