Ham radio in the land of Sunlines

mainah · 02-11-2018, 11:07 AM

CQ CQ any ham operators out there in Sunline land? Please call now. DE N3LYT Tim in Brownfield Maine.

mainah · 02-11-2018, 11:12 AM

No idea what my big thumb pushed how about Ham radio in the land of Sunlines?

mainah · 02-11-2018, 11:46 AM

I'll go first here is Ver. 3.1 I have maybe $8 in it the legs are 5' , 1/2" emt two 10' pieces, scrap piece of aluminum 6 carriage bolts and wing nuts. So far the results are pretty much the same maybe slightly better than the antenna up in the air behind the camper (It's basically a capacitor) . The antenna is a High Sierra and it has no turns counter so with the thing on the ground I can see my markings for the bands. The mast is a little less than 8' so I can store it in the camper compartment.

Irishman · 02-12-2018, 09:46 AM

Glad to see the thread started. I have been a Ham since about 1960-61. My present call is my original. I moved several times and at that time I had to take a area local call. I am glad they started the vanity system.
# 1 Is a picture of the RV set up at family property in the Adirondacks. The antenna in the front is a Hustler vertical. On the door side is the VHF/UHF J pole antenna on the mount mount with a fiberglass 35' extendable pole using 2" PVC and a bottom support board under the stabilizer jack. The pole is from the electric company. They use these for Push/Pull on the power lines. They are dated and must be rotated out. I was able to pick up two of them. The other mount to the right of the pole is used for a flag pole and can also be used for another antenna mount. I use this mount for my Yagi WiFi booster antenna.
#2 Is the radio setup in the Sunline. I have HF,VHF,UHF,Marine and several other bands.
#3 Is the radio setup in The trailer prior to the sunline.
#4 Is the front antenna mount on the jack stand with the bottom support board. These are 2" PVC piping. The pole is a electric company Push/Pull 35'extendable fiberglass
The trailer is completely self contained with Solar and dual deep cycle batteries,Dual 30lb tanks and 750 watt inverter. I use this for ARES, RACES and Comm. events. If you have questions please PM me. Thanks;

mainah · 02-12-2018, 12:10 PM

Licensed some time in the 80's My T1700 is similar set up with a homemade portable 100 watt solar panel that I can elevate and rotate then it all folds flat and lives on the bed in transit. The converter/charger is a modern switcher that is very quiet and can be used when power is available at 40 amps. I do have an inverter seldom used that my camper cord plugs into after turning off the charger breaker. All of the antenna gear is storable in the compartments except for the fiberglass mast assembly that has it's own case on wheels no less. I am hopeless with pictures I have them everywhere so I'll post more when I find them. The photo is the mount I made for the back of the camper it is held in place with the pin and folds down at 90* I put the fiberglass poles in and the rotatable dipole in the socket and just walk it up and put the pin back in. It doubles for the metal shorter pole for the screw drive antenna.

Irishman · 02-12-2018, 12:47 PM

Thanks mainah: My converter was the original and made a racket in the radios. I took it out and separated the 12V and 120V. When I need 120 in the field I run a cord to the inverter under the radios. Everything including the TV and antenna rotor is 12V.
I made a mount similar to your to raise the Hustler. DX Engineering wanted something like $60.00 so I made one. Try to find a pic of your fiberglass pole. Mine is expandable and has snap locks when I raise it. Check with your power company and see what they use to pull fuses. They may use something like this. New these cost about$700. and come from Australia. Frank

mainah · 02-12-2018, 04:12 PM

Yeah they are called "hot sticks"

mainah · 02-14-2018, 05:58 PM

Working on code plugs for a mobile DMR right now but I'll find the photos got some of the mobile HF for the truck somewhere too.

Campnut · 02-23-2018, 11:11 AM

KC3EQM here, John from Altoona PA

Irishman · 02-23-2018, 11:29 AM

Campnut: If you can make it to the PA Meet & Greet we could have an eyeball. LOL Frank

mainah · 02-23-2018, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Campnut

KC3EQM here, John from Altoona PA

Yep my 3 call came from Maryland. Jump in a enjoy the fun.

mainah · 02-24-2018, 05:44 AM

24 feet of poles,the elements,guys, tools, feed line and the cross for the dipole elements all fit in the narrow box. The tubing has 3 sizes so they slide inside one another so I can do 10,12,15,and 17 meters. 17 maxes it the elements start to bow. The rig on the back of the camper allows me to walk the whole mess up then pin it and set the guys it will stand by itself but the guys are really needed. The entire drill takes about 20 minutes

Irishman · 02-24-2018, 01:35 PM

mainah: I see you are using the fiberglass military poles. I switched my poles to the Aluminum style. They are identical to the fiberglass but much less bending and sway. The joints are a tighter fit. Frank

mainah · 02-24-2018, 04:10 PM

Yep a guy was selling them for $3 they are a bit lighter they are OK and are strong enough they are actually camouflage pole not really masts. I lift the entire thing assembled no problems yet and have had it up in pretty strong winds. Generally when I'm just camping I uses the screwdriver antenna 6 to 80 meters a lot easier and that system stores in the camper the poles etc. have to ride in the truck bed.

Irishman · 02-24-2018, 04:43 PM

The Military uses them for one thing and Hams find other uses lol I use a Hustler vertical mounted on the front hitch stand and a tilt up mount like the one DX engineering sells. I made mine and saved $60.00.

mainah · 03-02-2018, 08:18 AM

There is my mount for the truck. I had issues with the original 3/8 mount the Jet Stream fake SS mount turned out to be chrome plated cast brass it broke off and the antenna landed in the street luckily a friend was right behind me and picked it up. I then mounted inside of the truck bed on a ball mount. It still shook I decided that really could not be good for any antenna particular one with lots of parts inside. The top part part of the mount is Lexan because the entire antenna is RF hot when in use. I slotted it to be able to really cinch it down you can now grab the antenna and shake the truck with it!

mainah · 03-02-2018, 08:37 AM

A postscript in case one was wondering it is not grounded to the truck frame with double ought copper cable and the bed of the truck is plastic it relies on the ball mount grounding alone so much for the myth of vehicle ground planes. being a little higher up it does help somewhat with earth ground loss, it would be best to have the coil above the roof but I would then have to park outside and avoid bridges so being on the back does help. Proof is in the pudding I have a good 50+ DX contacts mobile mostly European and South America. One of the most interesting was with a Croatian antenna modeler in the hours drive he was plotting my movements and I was reporting compass headings. relative to his QTH he found the vehicle when facing him hard the greatest signal I don't know what that means in a real world but that's what he found.

Irishman · 03-02-2018, 08:51 AM

mainah: Nice job. Great looking medal work !! Frank

mainah · 03-07-2018, 05:38 PM

Found some more pictures here is the screwdriver antenna setup for the camper. There are two body grounds one on the bumper the other on the window frame. The socket on the bumper is larger than the pipe so I made up the difference with a plastic tube so it needed connections the the body work. I went all over the camper with a meger the dang thing is pretty well connected together roof etal.

Irishman · 03-07-2018, 05:48 PM

mainah: Looking good, Nice job. Fr