RadioBanter - [KB6NU] Weird antenna behavior

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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Weird antenna behavior

Posted: 01 Nov 2014 05:22 PM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email

Two years ago, I put up a 20m, end-fed half-wave antenna. It wasnt a
terrific performer, but it worked OK, and I was able to make contacts on
20m.

Basically, its a 33-ft. piece of wire connected to a matching network, made
up of a toroid and a capacitor, as shown in the figure at below. The
inductor is a toroidal inductor, and the capacitor is made from a length of
RG-174 coax, as shown in the figure below.

A month or so ago, the antenna started acting funny. While transmitting,
the power would fluctuate, not wildly, but noticeably. Thinking it might be
the coax, I took my dummy load outside and connected it to the coax, but
that checked out OK.

The next step was to check the matching unit. I had built the matching
network in a waterproof box, or so I thought. When I opened the box, there
was water inside it. Water had apparently gotten in around the screws
holding the SO-239 to the box. I dried it out, replaced a rusty nut and
bolt, and when I put it back together, sealed up the SO-239 with silicone.

That still didnt do it, though. I was still getting the erratic behavior.
Today, I practically rebuilt the entire antenna, aside from rewinding the
toroid and making a new coax capacitor, but its still acting weird.

I guess my next step is to make a new capacitor. I suppose some water could
have wicked up into the braid, compromising it. That seems kind of
far-fetched though. At this point, Im open to any other ideas you guys
might have.

The post Weird antenna behavior appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.

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CW Geeks No-Nonsense Guide to Having Fun With Morse Code: Prosigns

Posted: 01 Nov 2014 09:00 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email

Yet another chapter from my soon-to-be-released CW Geeks No-Nonsense Guide
to Having Fun With Morse Code.

Prosigns are combinations of characters (although a couple are just a
single character) that signify that a particular point in a contact has
been reached or that call for an action by the receiving operator. Although
the prosigns are written below as two separate characters, you should
sending them in a single sequence. For example, the prosign AR should be
sent as di-dah-di-dah-dit.

AR
End of message. You would send AR when youre done sending a message and are
ready to turn it over to the other operator. AR is sent before you send
callsigns. For example, at the end of your first transmission, you might
send:….HW? AR W8ABC DE KB6NU KIn practice, however, this is rarely done,
but you will hear it from time to time.
AS
Stand by. You would send AS if you want the other station to stand by for a
short time while you tweak your antenna tuner or perhaps make a note in
your log.
BK
Break. Send BK when you want the other station to start transmitting
without going through the station identification process. Feel free to make
liberal use of this prosign. Remember that you really only have to identify
your station once every ten minutes. You also use BK when beginning a
transmission thats responding to an invitation to break in.
CL
Closing. This signifies that you are going to be going off the air. You
send CL at the end of the station ID on your very last transmission of a
QSO. For example:73 ES GN SK W8ABC DE KB6NU CL
K, KN
Go ahead. You send either K or KN after identifying your station to invite
the other station to start transmitting. If you are open to allowing other
stations to join your conversation, send K. If you want only the station
you are currently in contact with to go ahead, send KN.
R
All received OK. Use this prosign near the beginning of your transmission
to signify that you received what was sent. I usually take this to mean
that the other station copied my transmission solidly, or in other words,
copied every single character.
SK
End of message. SK is similar to AR, but means that this will be the last
transmission of a contact.
VE
Understood. This prosign is not used often, but you do hear it occasionally.

The post CW Geeks No-Nonsense Guide to Having Fun With Morse Code: Prosigns
appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.