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How to Work Amateur Ham Radio Satellite w Baofeng UV5R MFJ on Saudisat S...Post #358

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Working satellites with a simple handheld VHF/UHF transceiver is loads of fun, especially if you can do it without spending a lot of money. David Mercado (KK4MND) shows how he made contact with the popular SaudiSat SO-50 with just an inexpensive Baofeng UV5R and a MFJ Dual Band Antenna from Amazon. You don't need a lot of space to set up a temporary antenna for these low earth orbit birds. Have fun! For the latest in Amateur Radio news and events, please visit the blog sidebars. These news feeds are updated daily. You can follow our blog community with a free email subscription or by tapping into the blog RSS feed . For more Amateur Radio news, please visit my news site at http://kh6jrm.net. Thanks for joining me today! Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM). Related articles Global Hourly HF Propagation Maps The February Issue of Digital QST is Now Available LoRa - low cost long distance telemetry Graphene-Based Nano-Antennas May Enable Networks of Tiny Machines - Depa

Simple Ham Radio Antennas: Ham Nation - HF Mobile Antennas. Post #357

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Nicely paced video from author/instructor Gordon West (WB6NOA) on mobile HF antennas . Gordon does a good job of covering the basics of mobile operations, including the type of HF mobile antennas available, the importance of grounding, and how to get a match close to 50 ohms for your rig. Much of what Gordon discusses here can be applied to other compromised antenna situations, such as HOAs and CC&Rs. If you live in this type of situation, some of the mobile HF tips suggested by Mr. West could give you a way of getting on the air with a good signal and still remain mostly hidden. In fact, you may want to design your home antenna around a mobile antenna. Some of the newer mobile antenna designs are quite stealthy and put out a good signal. Perhaps a "Little Tar-Heal Antenna" or an ATAS-120 would get you on the air with a minimum of space and nosey neighbors. It's worth a try. For the latest Amateur Radio news and events, please check out the blog sidebars. T

Demonstration of the Knight T-60, and Heathkit VFO VF 1 Power Supply. Post #356.

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One of the popular transmitters used by newly minted novice amateur radio operators in the 1960s and 1970s was the Knight Kit T-60. It was fairly cheap ($49.95) and could be operated in either AM phone or CW. As I remember, the T-60 had four tubes--6HF8 (oscillator), 6DQ6 (power amplifier), a 6DR7, and a 12AX7. The rig had a bad chirp on CW, most likely caused by improper loading of the plate circuit. That defect resulted in many FCC pink tickets and OO reports for new licensees. Although I never owned one, I used the rig a few times during field days and other portable operations. When I was first licensed as a novice in 1977, I was offered an old Heathkit HW-101 and that pushed the T-60 project out the door. This video does a good job of describing the functions and quirks of this early ham radio transmitter. Here are two places where you can find out more about this "classic" novice rig: http://www.ehmam.net (07 January 2015) and w9zt.webs.com. For the latest Ama

Simple Ham Radio Antennas: Ham Radio Xmas Story - ALEXLOOP! Post #355.

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The ALEXLOOP antenna is a well-made HF portable antenna designed for emergency and portable use. The ALEXLOOP Walk ham radio antenna is well-respected by the QRP community and is gaining in popularity as an emergency antenna for home use. This video by Randall (N4SAX) is hillarious and a bit "off center", but the message is clear: The ALEXLOOP magnetic portable antenna is a real gem worth keeping. Although I prefer to build my own wire antennas, I may deviate from that principle and buy one of these "effective solutions" for my own portable use. Great video! For the latest Amateur Radio news and events, please check out the blog sidebar. These news feeds are updated daily. You can follow our blog community with a free email subscription or by tapping into the blog RSS feed. For more Amateur Radio news, please visit my news site at http://kh6jrm.net. Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).

Simple Ham Radio Antennas: Antenna-Theory.com Presents: The Dipole Antenna. Post #354

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For my first project of the New Year, I decided to build a simple dipole antenna that could be used at the home QTH or at some portable location, such as a public park or a club Field Day. Although, I've built many dipole antennas, I felt a review of some basic antenna theory would "clear out some of the rust" incurred over the New Year's Eve celebration. I found this interesting video antenna tutorial from http://www.antenna-theory.com. The instruction was very clear and the basic forumlas were explained in plain language. This video would make good supplementary study material for those desiring an amateur radio license. In the end, I opted for a simple 40/15 meter inverted vee supported by a 33 foot/10.06 meters telescoping fiberglass mast. My feedline was some RG-8X I had stored in the garage of my vacation home in the Puna District of Hawaii Island. The antenna works very well on 40 and 15 meters. I have also fed the antenna with 450-ohm ladder line con