Because of poor planning on my part, the feed-point of my Buckmaster 160-meter off-center fed dipole fell from the tree yesterday to the ground. Let’s talk about what the original configuration was why it failed what I did to mitigate the circumstances and its return to operability. WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL CONFIGURATION? The photo shown…
Month: July 2021
Weekday Morning Roundtable Net Social Event 145.150 Washtenaw
On weekday mornings there is an inorganic roundtable net that meets at 8 AM on the Washtenaw 145.150 MHz repeater for a 30-minute daily kick-start. It is a fun net to which the amateur community is not only invited but warmly encouraged to attend. Because the repeater reaches not only the whole of Washtenaw County…
Transmission Line Analytics Applied to a Mag Mount Antenna
Amateur radio operators often forget that a feedline or transmission line has an effect on the vector impedance of the antenna it serves. If the antenna is resonant (50 + j0 Ohms) for the input frequency, then any length of coax is irrelevant. But if the antenna vector impedance is something else (which it ALWAYS…
Mag Mount Antenna Optimization & Feedline Analytics
The mag mount antenna may possibly be categorized as a commodity in both amateur radio and all hobbyist communications. Its installation is pretty much plug-and-chug except for a slight positioning of the transmitting element by means of a set screw. The user of the mag mount antenna typically uses an SWR meter to position the…
Walter Cronkite Speaks on Amateur Radio
Famed TV news host and former CBS News Anchor speaks for 6 and a half minutes on amateur radio. It’s a really great show! Sadly, it is age restricted so you will have to click on the YouTube button and search for “Walter Cronkite amateur radio.”
A Dipole Antenna Build
The dipole antenna is the mainstay of amateur radio. It is simple and easy to understand, yet absolutely full of nuances to be aware of. For the July meeting of the Chelsea Amateur Radio Club (see: WD8IEL.com) our own vice-president, Wes Cardone (N8QM) is giving a presentation on an actual build of a dipole antenna….
A Dipole Feedpoint Distance From Ground and Impedance
It is well known that the input impedance of a dipole antenna is largely dependent upon the height of its feed point above the ground plane. In this blog post, we will quantify the dipole input impedance with respect to its height above the ground plane. A dipole antenna is affected by the height of…