Sunday 8 October 2023. I decided to dust the cobwebs off my homebrew EFHW antenna for an activation of the 2nd most popular VK summit, Mt Stromlo VK1/AC-043, 782m ASL (2566 ft). This EFHW version covers the 40, 20, 15 and 10m bands, I am planning to add a link for 30m later this week.…
I have constructed a QRP 1:1 current choke for a new homebrew 28.4 metre ZS6BKW antenna fed with 11.1 metres of 300 ohm window ladder line. The choke is placed at the end of the 300 ohm cable as a means of reducing common mode current. This choke will be used in combination with an…
This post was inspired by a discussion at the UK SOTA Reflector on a small commercial telescopic pole support (fishing pole support), ideal for lightweight VHF or HF antenna poles. https://reflector.sota.org.uk/t/small-mast-holder-from-decathlon/33238 Project construction time 10 minutes, cost $3.75. My portable lightweight 6m fibreglass telescopic pole is used to support a range of different VHF-UHF antennas;…
I want a lightweight homebrew 6m antenna for SOTA and Parks activations with a little more gain than the homebrew 6m flowerpot. I know which direction the SOTA chasers or Park hunters operating positions are therefore I’m an not concerned with losing the omnidirectional radiation pattern of the 6m flower pot antenna. Having 2.6 dB…
8 January 2023. In 2023 VK1 is celebrating 10 years of the amateur radio Summits on the Air (SOTA) awards program which for VK1 officially commenced on 1 February 2013. To help celebrate the 10 year milestone our esteemed local VK1 SOTA Manager, Wade VK1MIC sought and gained permission from the Australian Communications and Media…
Since building a 6m coaxial dipole in January 2016 and later a 2m coaxial dipole in February 2018, I have often thought how a monoband half-wave vertical coaxial dipole would perform on 28 MHz. Summer has arrived in the southern hemisphere, now is an excellent time to construct a 10m half-wave coaxial dipole for the…
This 2m yagi antenna is light on the back-pocket and relatively easy to construct. This project starts with an old VHF TV antenna purchased from a local ‘Green’ recycle depot for $5.00 AUD. The repurposed TV antenna was a Phased Array comprised of two aluminium booms and four elements or eight 1/4 wave elements. Each…
My FT-890 is once again on the shack bench for more distinguished service. 3 years ago I foolishly boxed the radio for an early retirement, well it’s now back in service. I have to say the ‘warm’ audio quality on receive is better than my IC-7300 and the combined IF Notch & IF Shift deals…
I am constructing a lightweight 40/30/20/17/15m trap style inverted V dipole antenna for SOTA purposes. Can you use an antenna analyser to check the resonant frequency of a HF trap? Yes you can, here is a practical solution. The purpose of this post is to demonstrate how you can use a modern antenna analyser to…
Saturday 13 March 2021 – working DX SOTA chaser stations in New Zealand and Indonesia, SSB voice mode. Equipment – Yaesu 2m HT, Yaesu FT817ND, 7m telescopic pole, homebrew 40/20m inverted V linked dipole and an experiment with the use of a 10m length of RG-174 coax. I normally carry a 10m length of RG58AU.…
Homebrew HF EFHW antenna for low power SOTA, Parks and field day events. Using a 19.8 metre length of wire mounted as an inverted V, a non-resonant 6.8 metre counterpoise, this antenna is resonant in the 40/20/15/10m bands. At 19.8 metres long, the VSWR is less than 1.5:1 in the voice segments. If your primary…
Get out of the Radio Shack and Live Life 