This is one thing that has really surprised over the years is why no one has come out (commercially) with a decent switching design (>4 ports) that utilizes the coax for long runs rather having to dr
I have a satellite dish that is 10 years old it it has cable with 4 extra conductors molded in. Rick N6RK _______________________________________________ Topband mailing list Topband@contesting.com h
If you have just 1 station, MFJ sells a notch filter. If you have multiple stations, you need a filter. There is a wide range of filters where basically you pay more money for more selectivity. Price
I have posted many times on this subject to this reflector. I used a 40/80/160 vertical switched by relays for many years. The relays were vacuum relays that never lasted more than a year before need
Fence wire won't lay on the ground, it wants to curl up. A better aluminum wire is dead soft 1100 "tie wire" from Alcotec. Also cheaper BTW. I am planning to try some out later this year. Rick N6RK _
This is an OK method, but it is somewhat clumsy to tune, especially if you don't have fractional turn resolution. Also, it assumes the vertical is base loaded. I have top loading wires on my vertical
Exact same things seen here, both the transformer thing and pointing toward or away from the city. Rick N6RK _______________________________________________ Topband mailing list Topband@contesting.co
I purchased one of the ICE filters and the performance does NOT meet the published curve. Many dB off. It does provide some filtering. The performance is OK considering the price. However, whether a
This has the same problem as the ICE filter. An impressive looking measured curve, but no guaranteed specs. Having built many filters, I can tell you that repeatability is a huge issue in the case of
I need to know the complex impedance of the antenna, not the impedance at the transmitter. I don't believe the telepost system calibrates out cables. Also, my transmitter is 900 feet from my antenna,
Open wire line, 4 AWG aluminum, 450 ohms. A few .1 dB's of loss on 160. Yes, the AIM4170 can calibrate out both the 160 meter BCB filter and the open wire line, including baluns at each end and resid
That procedure is actually reasonable. I have an IC-706 and gel cell for that. Due to the power level involved, no 160 meter filter is necessary, no calibration, etc. Rick N6RK ______________________
No. The power handling capability is doubled. The insertion loss is unchanged. Dielectric losses in coax are neglgible on 160 meters. Nearly all loss is conductor loss. Again, the dB/100 ft loss of t
I wrote an article for the Sept/Oct 2009 National Contest Journal on loop receiving antennas for 160 and 80 meters. I am supplying unloaded PC boards in case you want to build one. Rick N6RK ________
I have routinely used baluns made with RG-58 at full legal power on 160, 80, and 40 for many years, with no overheating problems, although I don't run RTTY. RG-8X would have even more safety margin.
I have modified my MonstIR as follows: I cut the jumper between the element halves for the end elements (reflector and director 2). I then reconnected the element halves to the normally closed contac
I wrote an article on an improved feed system for coaxial loops in the Sept/Oct 2009 National Contest Journal. I should emphasize that my contribution is to the feed system, and I don't have a magic
I believe there are 50 ohm BNC connectors that fit 75 ohm cable, which are interchangeable as you say, but there are also true 75 ohm BNC's that do not intermate with garden variety BNC's. Rick N6RK
I wouldn't build this circuit as presented. The basic concept seems to have merit (although it is an obvious idea IMHO) and this paper serves as a proof of concept to some extent. A much better RF ga