Wednesday 8 Mar 2023

Move the antenna day!

  1. 14 FEB not much
  2. 1.  Improve my receive signal, there is sufficient noise that I cannot distinquish call letters. (My antenna is currently about 25′ below the surrounding terrain to the East.)
  3. The receive is a little scratchy which is making it quite difficult to capture call signs that are routinely said quite rapidly. It also makes it impossible to read an undermodulated carrier, I had a young HAM on a mobile that I just could not read on Saturday 25 Feb.
  4. 27 Feb Improve my receive signal, there is sufficient noise that I cannot distinguish call letters.  I added 10 feet to my antenna.
  5. 28 Feb Improve my receive signal.  There is sufficient noise that I cannot copy any conversation from GARS repeater at 20′. (To my amazement it got worse raising it 10′.) To raise my antenna another 10′ it will have to be guyed. I have all the components to raise it in 5′ increments. I just need a good day to get on the roof.  I will also have to take many more precautions against lightning.  I will be above the 30 degree protection cone of my 25′ lightning rod at the center of the home.  (We get struck by static more than 2x a year)
  6. 4 Mar Improve my receive signal.  There is sufficient noise that I cannot copy a undermodulated conversation from GARS repeater.  I walked around my yard and the receive signal fades in and out dramatically indicating multipath reception.  It did’t matter if the antenna was at 3′ or 12′ above the ground.  If I use a directional antenna to reach over the hill to the east I will loose the repeaters in downtown Atlanta.
  7.  8 Mar Improve my antenna situation
  8. Pull RG-58 from attic
  9. Mount antenna on a 5′ pole
  10. Pull down ADSB antenna
  11. Mount 5′ pole on top of ADSB mast
  12. Secure and ground mast
  13. Test radio receive and transmit
  14. 9 Mar  Check the VSWR to my antenna and adjust its length. 
  15. I found out AFTER I mounted the antenna that the antenna comes longer than needed and the user needs to hacksaw off the end of the antenna to tune it.  I’ll wait until I get my four lengths of COAX before I pull down the antenna again.  I’ll build them from the radio back to the antenna. (Meaning the antenna mast will be last cable I replace.)
  16. 3.  Lightning protect my Transciever RF connection since the 2M antenna is now the tallest pole on my home.
  17. The antenna bracket has a 6AWG copper wire running the length of the mast which is connected to the roof ground plane.  I still need to deal with the 1-3 uS pulse riding on the coax attached to the radio.  The current plan is to put a coil on the coax in my shack and then terminate the coax into a lightning protector before it runs to the radio.  (The coil slows down the dV/dT to allow the lightning protector to flash AND greatly lowers the impulse current since it’s so brief.)  I have a LOT of experience with lightning hitting my home!
  18. Lightning protect my Transciever RF connection since the 2M antenna is now the tallest pole on my home.
    The antenna bracket has a 6AWG copper wire running the length of the mast which is connected to the roof ground plane.  I still need to deal with the 1-3 uS pulse riding on the coax attached to the radio.  The current plan is to put a coil on the coax at the base of the antenna. Then terminate the coax into a lightning protector before it runs to the radio.  (The coil slows down the dV/dT to allow the lightning protector to flash AND greatly lowers the impulse current since it’s so brief.)  I have a LOT of experience with lightning hitting my home!  If you want some entertainment, search Coil+Lightning+Protection. Need to Make a Coax Coil? Here’s a Tip: (eham.net)
  19. Primary Focus, lightning protect my Transciever RF connection since the 2M antenna is now the tallest pole on my home.  The antenna bracket has a 6AWG copper wire running the length of the mast which is connected to the roof ground plane.   I am realizing that I should have a name tag that says “Mark, KQ4GEL and I don’t know squat”.
  20. I bought the wrong cable, bought the wrong antenna and did a terrible job of mounting it.  Sheesh.
  21.  10 Mar I have an issue with my transmit, the transmitter is good at 5 and 15W.  But it appears that my transmitter is collapsing after about 20 seconds at 25W or high power 55W.

Pull RG-58 from attic
Mount antenna on a 5′ pole
Pull down ADSB antenna
Mount 5′ pole on top of ADSB mast
Raise Mast with 2M antenna on top.  (I am getting too old for this LOL)
Secure antenna with guy wires
Tie 6AWG antenna ground wire to roof grounds.
Test radio receive and transmit