antenna – Page 4 – WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio

Repurposed Antenna Parts – Round 2

In a recent post, I wrote about a vertical antenna I put together with an old homebrew loading coil and a 12-foot telescopic whip. I intended to add some marks on the coil for each band, so I could eliminate the need for an antenna analyzer during band changes. This time, I actually remembered to bring a permanent marker and got it done.

I drove up to Evansburg State Park (K-1351/KFF-1351) this morning for a quick POTA activation. Before I got going, I used my antenna analyzer to determine the tap points for each band. I used a Sharpie® marker to mark the coil for 40M, 30M, 20M, and 17M. Since the coil has sufficient inductance to load the 12-foot whip on 60M, I also marked that band (the top-most mark on the coil). Before I started operating, I went back and checked each tap location to confirm repeatable results. Using a Sharpie marker is a decidedly low-tech approach, but it serves the purpose.

My homebrew loading coil. If you look closely, you can see the marks I added. As shown, the coil is tapped for the 30M band.

To change bands now, I just move the tap to the appropriate mark. I still use an antenna tuner to deal with any minor variations I might encounter. Now I can change bands in the time it takes to move the coil tap and hit the “tune” button on the tuner.

Despite the so-so band conditions this morning, the 12-foot whip performed well. In less than an hour of operating, I made 18 contacts. Most of my contacts were on 40 and 30. There were two park-to-park contacts I’m aware of.

The 12-foot base-loaded whip in use at K-1351

My operations were interrupted for a chat with a curious park ranger. I gave him my standard Parks on the Air spiel. He had encountered POTA activators in another state park, so he had some familiarity with the activity. After a few minutes, he left to look into a reported issue on one of the hiking trails.

So, I’m pretty satisfied with this antenna. It has a length advantage over my Gabil GRA-7350TC antenna. Comparing coil dimensions, I suspect it also has an efficiency advantage over the Gabil antenna.

Regardless, I now have another useful option in my antenna arsenal.

73, Craig WB3GCK

POTA with Repurposed Antenna Parts

While going through my stash of old parts, I came across a coil assembly I built over 20 years ago. Originally, it was part of a homebrew antenna inspired by the MFJ-1622 Apartment Antenna; but I used it over the years with a variety of whip antennas while “stationary-mobile.” As I moved on to other antennas for my portable operations, the coil was relegated to the junk box and forgotten—until now.

I also had an old MFJ-1956 12-foot telescopic whip that I haven’t used in years. It was stashed away in the basement waiting to become part of a new antenna project. Having just installed a ⅜-24 antenna mount in the bed of my pickup truck, I thought the coil and whip might work well with it.

The coil is a beast. It’s made from 1.5-inch PVC pipes and wound with bare copper wire—16 awg, I think. I used four strips of nylon grommet edging material to keep the turns evenly spaced. (I don’t remember where I got the grommet material, but it’s similar to this Panduit product.) The coil is about 5.4 inches long and 2 inches in diameter with 40 turns. Using an online calculator, I figured the coil is approximately 25.4 μH.

The homebrew coil I built more than 20 years ago.

The coil assembly weighs in at a hefty 14.1 ounces, and the overall length is 10.5 inches. The whip is 24 inches collapsed and weighs 9.6 ounces, so it wouldn’t be my choice for a backpacking antenna. However, on my truck, it should do fine.

Using another online calculator, I reckoned the coil should be more than enough to resonate the 12-foot whip on the 40M band and possibly the 60M band. Since the whip, coil, and mounting bracket all use ⅜-24 hardware; it was just a matter of slapping it all on the truck to see what how it would perform.

To test it out, I made a trip to Valley Forge National Historical Park (K-0761, KFF-0761) this morning. With a minor geomagnetic storm underway, the forecasted band conditions looked pretty dismal. I also got an early start, since we were expecting some severe storms around mid-day. So, I wasn’t expecting much, in the way of contacts.

I mounted the antenna on the back of the truck and broke out the antenna analyzer. It took a bit of fiddling to find resonance on 40M. The lowest SWR was around 3.8:1. That’s not great, but my little Elecraft T1 tuner handled it with no difficulties. On the air, I was getting some decent spots from the Reverse Beacon Network, and I made about 8 contacts before moving to 30M.

My homebrew coil and 12-foot whip mounted on the back of my truck.

The SWR on 30M was down to about 2:1. Again, the T1 made sure my TR-35’s finals stayed happy. I made one park-to-park contact on 30M before moving up to 20M

The SWR on 20M was about 1.3:1 across the band. I made another seven contacts here, before stopping to do some experimenting with the antenna.

I checked 17M and measured an SWR of about 1.2:1 across the band. I didn’t try to make contacts on 17M. Instead, I went back to 40M to pick up a few more contacts before shutting down.

I intended to bring a Sharpie® pen along to mark the coil for each band to speed up band changes. Of course, I forgot to bring one along. Oh well, I’ll do that next time. For 15M and above, I’ll need to bypass the entire coil and shorten the length of the whip accordingly.

The static crashes were getting louder, and I heard thunder off in the distance. So, I called it quits. Just as I shut the rig off, the heavy rains started. I quickly took down the antenna and packed up to leave.

Despite the lousy band conditions and heavy QRN, I ended up with 18 contacts. I had three park-to-park contacts today. And, as it turns out, this was my 20th POTA activation at Valley Forge, earning me a “Repeat Offender” award for this park.

It looks like this mash-up of antenna parts works pretty well. I’ll give it another shot in a few days. Hopefully, the weather and band conditions will be better.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Bracket for the GRA-7350TC Antenna

Regular readers of this blog know that my homebrew 19-ft vertical is my go-to antenna for “stationary-mobile” operations. I use a low-tech mounting system in the bed of my truck involving a plastic milk crate, a cargo bar, and some bungees. When we go on our annual vacation to North Carolina, unfortunately, I have to remove the crate to free up storage space. I plan to activate a park or two while on vacation this year, so I wanted to come up with an alternate antenna arrangement.

I bought the GRA-7350TC antenna with this specific scenario in mind. Previously, I tested this antenna with a magnetic mount that I had stashed away in the basement. Although a couple of successful POTA activations proved its viability, I wanted something better than my little mag mount.

Browsing around on Amazon, I found a stainless steel bracket with an SO-239 to ⅜-24 mount. I was reluctant to drill holes in my truck, but I thought a couple of small holes in the truck’s bed wouldn’t be too bad. So, I placed an order.

The Sirio stainless steel antenna mounting bracket I found on Amazon — The Sirio M1 stainless steel antenna mounting bracket I found on Amazon

The bracket arrived the next day. It’s really heavy-duty and possibly overkill for my application. My local hardware store had an excellent selection of stainless steel hardware. I bought some #12 x 1-inch sheet metal screws and some star washers.

The next step was figuring out exactly where to mount it. I had to make sure that I could still close the truck bed cover without hitting it. By dumb luck, I chose a spot where I could use one of the screws that fastens the truck’s bed liner. This placed the mount close to where I wanted it. Then, it was a quick task to drill pilot holes for the three additional screws. Mechanically, it felt solid, and an ohmmeter check confirmed continuity to the truck’s body.

The bracket installed in the bed of my truck with the antenna installed. The black screw is an existing screw I took advantage of.

I gave the new mount a trial run at Ridley Creek State Park (K-1414, KFF-1414). It took me about a minute to get the antenna set up on the mount, and it was a perfect fit. I ran an 18-foot length of RG-8x coax (much longer than I really needed) to the Penntek TR-35 inside my truck.

Using an antenna analyzer, I first tuned it up on the 40M band. I couldn’t get the SWR down below 2:1. This also happened when using the antenna on a magnetic mount, too. I’m guessing a different length of coax or a counterpoise wire might help. In any event, I tuned the antenna to resonance and used a tuner to keep the rig happy. The first QSO was a station in Georgia who gave me a decent signal report.

The SWR on 30M was a bit lower but still above 2:1. Again, I had no problems making contacts with the antenna. On 20M and 17M, the SWR was down to about 1.2:1 or thereabouts.

Despite the time spent fiddling with the antenna, I logged 13 contacts, with three park-to-park QSOs. I also worked W1HNJ on 40M and 30M. As part of Museum Ship Weekend, they were operating the radio console from the hospital ship, SS Hope. The radio console is now part of the Chatham Marconi-RCA Wireless Museum on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

I still have some tinkering to do, but I think the mounting bracket will work just fine. I won’t be retiring my homebrew vertical anytime soon, but the GRA-7350TC gives me another option when the need arises.

73, Craig WB3GCK

POTA with a New Antenna

I looked at my log the other day and saw that I had only made a measly two HF contacts this month. Between the grandkids’ school functions, soccer games, horseback riding competitions, and my knee issues; I haven’t had much time for my QRP-portable activities. I set out to change that this morning with a drive to Valley Forge National Historical Park (K-0761, KFF-0761).

A few weeks ago, while nursing my injured knee, I made an impulse purchase. After watching some YouTube videos, I went on Amazon and bought a Gabil GRA-7350TC antenna. The last thing I needed was another antenna—I blame YouTube and Amazon. Actually, it wasn’t a totally frivolous purchase; I have plans to use it during a trip later this summer.

I also bought the matching GRA-ULT01 MK3 tripod for the antenna, which I planned to try out today. I put together some radials to use with the tripod setup.

As I headed out the door this morning, I grabbed an old magnetic mount base I had from an 2M/440 antenna. Since I bought the GRA-7350TC with the ⅜-24 stud mount, the antenna was a perfect fit for the mag mount. I figured I’d give that a try, while I was trying out the antenna.

It was raining when I got to the park this morning, so I kept things simple and tried out the mag mount. In doing so, I learned something about my six-year-old truck: The hood isn’t made of steel. The rest of the truck is, but not the hood. Who knew? (Probably every Chevy Silverado owner but me, I guess.) I ended up putting the antenna on the roof where I could easily reach it. Inside the truck, I used my Penntek TR-35 (5 watts).

The Gabil GRA-7350TC on a magnetic mount from an old 2M/440 antenna.

The sliding coil adjustment made tuning up a snap. Using my old MFJ-226 antenna analyzer, it only took a minute or two to get the antenna tuned up on 40M. I’m not a big fan of having to take an antenna analyzer out in the field, but this was relatively painless. Band changes only took about a minute. Most of that time was setting up the antenna analyzer for the band of interest.

I used the new antenna on 40M, 30M, and 20M with decent results. In the end, I had 16 contacts, including five park-to-park QSOs. I’m sure my little magnetic mount wasn’t providing the best ground in the world, but at least I know it’s usable in a pinch.

Hopefully, June will provide more opportunities to get out portable. Since my old knee has been feeling a little better recently, I’m hoping to get back on the bike again at some point. I already have some ideas for a bike mount for the GRA-7350TC.

73, Craig WB3GCK

POTA with the MFJ-1820T

I made a quick run down to Ridley Creek State Park (K-1414) for an early morning POTA activation. For a few minutes, though, I thought I might fall short of the 10 contacts needed to complete the activation.

I dusted off my old MFJ-1820T 20M whip antenna and thought I’d try it out on my window mount. Inside the truck, my Elecraft T1 tuner loaded it right up. After calling CQ a few times, I checked the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN). The first spot I received was from Costa Rica. So, the antenna seemed to get out OK. I was running about five watts from my TR-35.

The MFJ-1820T 20M whip on my old window mount

Things got off to a good start on 20M. I had a steady stream of callers for the first several minutes, and I was getting strong RBN spots to the west of me. Then, things slowed down. It was five minutes before the next QSO. Then another six minutes after that. I was beginning to consider the prospect of a busted activation when activity picked up again. I suspect it was just a bit too early on a Sunday morning.

After I had 11 contacts in the log, I switched to the Elecraft AX1 to give 17M a try. I didn’t hear much activity there, and the RBN wasn’t seeing me at all. I stayed with the AX1 and went back to 20M.

The activity on 20M started picking up this time around. When I wrapped things up, I had 20 contacts in the log, with two park-to-park QSOs. I didn’t have any DX contacts today, but I did work two Idaho stations.

I continue to be amazed at what you can do with five watts and one of these little whip antennas.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Bike-Portable with the AX1

Inspired by some blogs I follow, I’ve recently dusted off my Elecraft AX1 antenna and started putting it to use. Until now, I’ve kept it stashed away in my backpack as a backup antenna that I’ve never needed.

So far, I’ve used this versatile little antenna a couple of ways. Most recently, I’ve used it with an old window mount, while operating “stationary-mobile” in my truck. I’ve also used it while “picnic table portable,” using an Elecraft AXT1 tripod mount and my little Ultrapod tripod. If I’m using my KX3, I can use the AXB1 BiPod Mount to support the antenna.

One other use case I wanted to address is operating “bicycle portable.” If I’m out on a bike ride and stop for some radio, it would be handy to use the bike to support the AX1. Browsing around on eBay, I came across an interesting camera mount clamp that looked like it might work well with the AXT1.

I found this gizmo listed as a “clamp mount ball head” from a company called, SmallRig. It’s a clamp with a standard ¼-20 camera mount, and it works perfectly with the AXT1 tripod adapter. I can fasten the clamp to the handlebars, to give the AX1 some elevation. I would post a link for the clamp, but eBay listings come and go too fast. However, if you search for “clamp mount ball head,” you should find lots of them from a variety of sellers.

This is the camera clamp I used. When coupled with the Elecraft AXT1 tripod mount, it made for a very versatile mount for my AX1 antenna.

To test it out, I packed my radio gear and headed out for my first bike ride of the year. I rode a few miles on the Schuylkill River and Perkiomen trails to a local park.

The AX1 mounted on the handlebars of my bike.

I set up my TR-35 on a bench in the picnic area and mounted the AX1 on the handlebars of my bike. Even with the bike leaning, the clamp’s adjustable swivel allowed me to keep the antenna vertical. I used two radials clipped to the AXT1 tripod adapter with an alligator clip. A six-foot length of RG-8x coax was more than enough to reach the rig. I was on the air in about 3 minutes.

My setup in the park with my AX1 bike mount. I used two 12.5-foot radials attached to the AXT1 tripod mount with an alligator clip.

The T1 tuner easily tuned up on the 20M band. During my brief stop in the park, I worked POTA stations in Virginia, Illinois, and Georgia. Pleased with my new bike mount, I packed up and continued on my ride.

I have a feeling I’ll be taking this handy antenna setup along on more bike rides in the future.

72, Craig WB3GCK

More Fun with the AX1 Antenna

Sometimes, you just have to be flexible. Originally, I had planned to do some bike riding today and experiment with a bike mount I cobbled together for my Elecraft AX1 antenna. However, Mother Nature decided to throw some freezing temperatures at me today. Instead of a cold bike ride, I opted for a more comfortable “stationary-mobile” POTA activation.

I loaded up my gear and made the quick trip to nearby Evansburg State Park (K-1351). My setup today was similar to the one I used a couple weeks ago. I used my AX1 antenna on a window mount. The rig today was my PennTek TR-35 (5 watts), coupled with an Elecraft T1 tuner. The TR-35 limited my operation to the 20M and 17M bands. With this simple setup, I was on the air within a couple of minutes of arriving.

Contacts on 20M came as easily today as my last activation with the window mounted AX1. I had my first 10 contacts in about 15 minutes. I was pleased to get a call from K4SWL down in North Carolina. Thomas has a bunch of recent posts on the AX1 over at qrper.com. Of course, I had to let him know I was using an AX1 today.

The organized chaos in the cab of my truck, which includes my PennTek TR-35 and Elecraft T1 ATU.

After logging 20 contacts on 20M, I changed over to 17M. I didn’t have as much luck, but I made four contacts there. After that, I went back to 20M to make a couple of park-to-park contacts. My last contact was with WA3GM. Greg is a local ham who is spending some time in Florida and was activating a park down there.

I shut down after an hour of operating with 26 contacts in the log including 3 park-to-park contacts.That exactly matched the results from my last activation with the AX1. This little antenna never ceases to amaze me.

Hopefully, we’ll get some more moderate temperatures this week, so I can finally get that bike ride in.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Reviving My Old Car Window Mount

Recently, Thomas K4SWL over at QRPer.com featured an excellent guest post from W2AEW describing a car window mount Alan built for his Elecraft AX1 antenna. Inspired by Alan’s post, William KR8L, did some experimenting and came up with his own window mount. These folks got me thinking—a dangerous thing, sometimes.

I remembered a commercially made window mount I bought 25+ years ago. (I think it came from RadioShack, but I’m uncertain of that.) Back then, I was traveling for work a lot, and I usually took my old RadioShack HTX-202 HT along with me. When I was using a rental car, I used the window mount with a rubber duck antenna. When parked, I used a 2M half wave telescopic antenna on it. I hadn’t used it—or seen it—in years. It was somewhere amongst the miscellaneous stuff acquired over my 48 years in ham radio.

It took a little searching, but after rummaging through some old parts, I found the old window mount. The mount is made of steel with a female BNC connector on it. It also has six feet of RG-58 coax attached. The coax is more than enough to reach the center console of my truck from the passenger side window.

The old window mount I resurrected from the junk box. The bolt next to the BNC connector is something I added.

The next task at hand was to figure out a way to connect a counterpoise wire to the mount. The steel mount has a black coating on it, which electrically isolated the BNC connector from the mount. To resolve that, I removed the BNC connector and used a rotary tool to remove some of the coating around the mounting hole. Then, I drilled a hole for a small bolt that I could use as a place to attach an alligator clip for the radials.

I already had an Elecraft AX1 antenna that I bought years ago when they first came out. I usually carry it in my backpack as a backup antenna, but I really haven’t used it very much. So, I guess it’s time to put it to use.

To see how this setup worked, I drove over to nearby Valley Forge National Historical Park (POTA K-0761) for a brief activation. Along with the AX1 on the window mount, I used two 12.5-foot radials. I have to admit it was nice being able to deploy an antenna in less than a minute.

My AX1 deployed on the window mount with two radial wires clipped on.

Back in the truck, I fired up my KX3 running five watts. I was prepared to crank the power up to 10 watts, if need be, but that proved unnecessary. Within a minute of spotting myself, the calls started coming in. The signal reports were decent, and I was seeing some strong hits on the Reverse Beacon Network. It took all of 12 minutes to make my prerequisite ten contacts.

In less than an hour, I had 14 contacts on 20M, nine on 17M, and three on 15M. Among those 26 QSOs, I had one park-to-park contact with a station in Quebec. At one point on 17M, I had a DX station calling. I believe it might have been Italy, but I just couldn’t pull out the entire callsign. My apologies to that station, wherever they were.

The AX1’s performance was a pleasant surprise. Although it has been in my antenna arsenal for a few years now, I really haven’t given it a serious test. Well, that changed today. It has proven itself to be a worthy antenna choice, when a larger antenna is impractical.

Thanks to W2AEW and KR8L for inspiring me to dust off my old window mount and put it to good use.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Black Widow Pole Quick Fix

During my last POTA activation, the eyelet at the top of my trusty 20-foot Black Widow telescopic pole snapped off. This pole has served me well for over 25 years, so I can’t blame the pole. The Black Widow poles are still available from the manufacturer, so I could have just bought a new one. But hey, what fun would that be?

After staring blankly at the broken pole for a while, I rummaged through my stash of parts and came up with an easy fix. I found a small ring terminal that fit snugly over the top of the pole, so I just glued it on using some Loctite outdoor adhesive. In keeping with my usual practice, I added a small key ring (split ring) to the eyelet replacement. (For more on the rationale for the split ring, check out this post.)

My quick and dirty replacement for the broken eyelet on my Black Widow telescopic pole. I simply glued a ring terminal to the top section of the pole.

Well, that was easy enough. Hopefully, this silly little hack will squeeze 25 more years of use left in this old pole. It probably won’t, but a guy can dream, right?

72, Craig WB3GCK

Outer Banks 2022

Yep, it’s that time of year again. Time for our annual family vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

We arrived on Saturday, after a long drive from southeastern Pennsylvania. After unloading and getting organized in the house we rented in Corolla for the week, I went outside and set up an antenna.

Currituck Sound, as seen from my antenna.

For the past two years at this house, I used a 29-foot vertical fed through a 9:1 unun. During both trips, I struggled with noise issues. I had a couple of antenna options I wanted to try this year.

This time around, I went with a Rybakov-type antenna. I strapped a 28-foot Jackite pole to the railing of the 3rd floor deck. I used a 26-foot vertical wire fed through my recently built weather-resistant 4:1 unun. My 26-foot counterpoise wire ran out to the side of the antenna and down the side of the deck stairs. It was a weird configuration, for sure. I ran 25 feet of RG-8X coax down to the second floor, where I could operate in the shade—in the morning, at least.

My Rybakov vertical configuration. The red line shows how I ran the counterpoise wire. Despite this weird-looking setup, it worked pretty well.

I didn’t test the antenna until early Sunday morning, and my KX3’s tuner matched it on every band from 40M through 10M. The noise levels on 40M and 20M were down around S2, a dramatic improvement over previous years and completely workable. The higher bands were dead quiet.

My antenna feedpoint. I used my weather-resistant 4:1 to create a Rybakov-type vertical.

My first contact was an interesting one. Fellow Boschveldt members, Glen NK1N and Rob KE3TI, were on an overnight backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. I sent Glen NK1N a text message to let him know I was on the air, and we connected on 40M. We chatted for a bit and exchanged SKCC numbers. Conditions were rough in the beginning but, towards the end of our contact, our signals improved.

Before quitting, I logged 10 SKCC Weekend Sprintathon (WES) contacts. There were bonus points for using a homebrew key, so I used a straight key I cobbled together a few years ago. I also worked Greg WA3GM, who was doing a POTA activation at a park near to my home in Pennsylvania. So, my jury-rigged Rybakov seemed to get out OK.

The homebrew straight key I used during the SKCC Weekend Sprintathon (WES).

Monday morning, I got set up on the deck to make a few contacts. I noticed the antenna was acting up a bit on the 40M band. The KX3’s tuner showed it found a 1:1 match, but the SWR went up when I transmitted. I had no issues with the other bands, just 40M. It seemed like I was getting some RF on the coax shield, so I added a common mode choke at the transceiver and changed to a shorter length of coax. That cleared up the issue. I’m guessing there was some interaction between the antenna’s counterpoise and the coax on 40M. Even before I resolved the antenna issue, I logged a half-dozen contacts.

My radio setup on the 2nd story deck of the rental house.

With six adults, four grand-kids, and two grand-dogs, there was always something going on in the house. However, I managed to get on the air for about an hour each morning after breakfast to make a few contacts.

Thursday evening was busy. I kept track of Winlink check-ins for an ARES-RACES net back home. Using DMR, I checked into another ARES-RACES net in Pennsylvania. When I’m down here, I always like to check into the Outer Banks Area Wide Net. Then, it was out to the dock to join my grand-kids for some crabbing.

As I was finishing up breakfast on Friday, I got a text message from my friend, Frank N3FLL, asking if I was on the air. I quickly moved my radio out to the deck and had a nice QSO with him. I also worked a few POTA activators including Greg WA3GM. I worked Greg on the first day, so it was only fitting that I work him on the last day, too. After that, it was time to take down the antenna and pack up the radios.

I didn’t spend as much time on the air as in previous years, but I worked some fellow SKCC members, chased a few POTA activators, and had a couple of nice ragchews. All in all, it was a great vacation with excellent weather. I’m already looking forward to next year.

73, Craig WB3GCK