KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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Operating notes: Cobra antenna without a tuner, working a listener, make
and model

Posted: 01 Feb 2018 12:50 PM PST
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


A couple of days ago, I worked Keith, KU1N and was pleased to hear that he
was also using a Cobra antenna. When I asked him what kind of antenna tuner
he was using, he said that he was using the internal antenna tuner in his
Elecraft K3. Hes connecting the ladder line to a 4:1 balun, and then
connecting the ouput of that to the K3.

I was a bit surprised, but thats really a testament to the design of the
Elecraft antenna tuners. I know that the antenna tuner in my KX3 will tune
an SWR of at least 10:1. So apparently, the impedance at the end of the
ladder line is 2000Â*Ω or less on the frequencies that hes using the antenna.

It would be interesting to see which has the lower losses: my big, old
Dentron Super Tuner or the tuner in KU1Ns K3. In any case, it was an
interesting contact. And, as an added bonus, Keith mentioned at the end of
the QSO that his son and his wife both used my study guide to get their
license.
Another satisfied listener

Yesterday, I made contact with a guy on 80m. After the first exchange,
there was a fairly long pause before he came back the second time. When he
did, the first thing he said was, I knew your call sounded familiar. Thanks
for your work on the ICQPodcast.� I guess the reason for the delay is that
he must have been Googling me.

He repeated that about three times during the course of his transmission.
So much so, that when it was my turn again, I told him that if he had said
that one more time that I was going to get a big head. I then thanked him
for his kind words.

What kills me is that he thought I was some kind of celebrity. I suppose I
am, but in a very small way. (One of my friends calls me “ham famous.�)

I think that all of the guys you hear on ham radio podcasts are just
ordinary hams. We get on the air and make contacts just like anyone else.
So, I told him that if he ever heard me calling CQ, to please return my
call. We may be a little more widely-known than other hams, but that means
nothing on the ham bands. We just want to make contacts like anyone else.
Make and model

Before I got my IC-7300, I used to send RIG HR ICOM IC746PRO when telling
the other guy what kind of rig I was using. Now, I just send, RIG HR
IC7300. I figure that with all the publicity it got a year and half ago,
most operators will know about the radio.

Over and above that, though, make and mode really is redundant information.
Kenwood doesnt make an FT-450D, nor does Elecraft make a TS-990. The model
number serves to tell the other op what the make is as well as the model
number.

It never made sense to me to do that, but I went along as that seemed to be
the common practice. Ive stopped doing that now, and you probably can, too.

The post Operating notes: Cobra antenna without a tuner, working a
listener, make and model appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.