Topbanders:
Over 30 stations reported copying the 15 mw W0AH/B to a quarter wave vertical
the nights of September 18-22 before it went QRT. Part two of the
experiment is a much greater challenge. The signal will be about 2 S-units
weaker this time! I am running 100 mw to a 12 1/2 foot antenna which is
less than 1% efficient compared to a perfect radiator. Thus, the 3/4 mw. A
local ham reported me about 21 db down from my 1/4 wl vertical, and I'm
hearing about the same on receive. The transmitter is a two transistor
"Peanut Whistle II" from Don Stoner's 1964 Transistor Transmitters for the
Amateur, modified for 160M. The antenna is the top and bottom sections of a
Hustler trap vertical minus all the traps, of course. There is a homebrew
capacitance hat at 9 1/2 feet made of two director elements from a six meter
beam at right angles to each other with aluminum ground wire connecting the
ends of the four "spokes." The antenna resonates at 9.89 MHz (hmm, maybe the
30 meter antenna I have been planning to build) and with 16 turns of 14 guage
copper insulated wire wound around a 2 1/2 gallon bucket, it resonates at
about 1817.5 where I will be CQing THE FIRST 30 SECONDS of each minute from
0330 to at least 0400 UTC tonight and from 1200 to 1245 UTC tomorrow morning.
If you hear me, please call, and we will exchange signal reports. Please do
NOT call during the first 30 seconds of the minute when I am CQing (set your
time piece to WWV) OR if you do not hear me. If you can just barely detect
my signal or choose not to call, I would appreciate an email on what you
heard. It's a stretch to think anyone will copy me tonight/tomorrow morning
with the auroral conditions and high levels of QRN we've been having
recently, but you never know. Hope we work tonight/ tomorrow morning! This
setup, in a new reincarnation (the antenna will be reduced to 10', reducing
the ERP a little) will begin life as a 1695 KHz MEDfer becon soon. In the
meantime, I may repeat this experiment several times, hoping for good/quiet
conditions. Anyone who hears or works me gets the "good ears award."
73,
Doug W0AH DM78 central Colorado near Pikes Peak
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