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;…
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…
At this link I constructed a 2m lightweight telescopic dipole where the toroid choke is a T37-0 (Tan 0 mix, 50 to 350 Mhz). This version is using a T37-17 (Blue/Yellow 17 mix, 20 to 200 MHz). In addition to the change of balun core, I made the center insulator 5 mm (~1/4 inch) longer…
Friday 1 February 2019 – Today is the 6th anniversary of SOTA in VK1 and to celebrate the occasion four VK1 SOTA activators are heading for the hills; Bill VK1MCW, Tony VK1VIC, Dermy VK1FDHA and myself. My plan is to activate Mount McDonald 17 km west of Canberra GPO. Elsewhere in VK3 a contingent of…
Do you have a passion for homebrew portable HF antennas and antenna impedance matching devices, commonly known in the radio amateur community as Antenna Tuning Units (ATU) or in parts of the northern hemisphere as Aerial Matching Unit (AMU)? …then read on else leave this page now. The term ‘Tuning Unit’ is far from the…
A homebrew 2m 144.2 MHz vertical 1/2 wave Coaxial Dipole antenna project for your home QTH, SOTA, portable field operations/WICEN exercises or the emergency 2m Go-box. Elsewhere in amateur radio circles this antenna is known as a 2m Flower Pot Antenna. Credits to VK2ZOI (SK). Post updated 5 May 2019, scroll to the bottom for…
I’m enjoying the challenge of 23cm 1296 MHz homebrew antenna construction for SOTA purposes. My 23cm portable antenna collection includes: 12el DL6WU Yagi 12dB gain – lightweight boom construction using a folded dipole; 6el DL6WU Yagi 9 dB gain – ruggedised all brass construction gamma matched, ideal for the Australian scrub bash; and 2el HB9CV…
Sunday 18 June 2017. I recently purchased a new 2.5 watt 23 cm 1296 MHz transverter from SG-Lab in Sofia Bulgaria. The package includes a 2el HB9VC PCB yagi which has turned out to be a great addition for portable work, particularly from a hilltop with a good uninterrupted view of the horizon. Today from…
In recent months 7 MHz NVIS propagation has taken a fall off the propagation-cliff to be replaced by its 5 MHz and 3.5 MHz siblings. As the sun’s natural 11-year solar cycle moves closer to a solar minimum, radio amateurs are experiencing a change in the MUF. Since January this year the NVIS frequency…
Get out of the Radio Shack and Live Life 