Saturday was a perfect day for doing some antenna work and other maintenance: sunny, not too warm, and with the predicted rain showers choosing to fall elsewhere. Just as well, as we had a lot of jobs to get through! The team managed to get through nearly all of the work items, but a couple […]
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Category: Antennas
Antennas-related posts (designs, analysis software, repairs, etc.)
GSTARS visit to Mt Gray Radio hut, Goulburn (14-Feb-2024)
The Goulburn & Southern Tablelands Amateur Radio Society (GSTARS) met at the Goulburn North Maccas at 1800 on Wed 14feb2024. Rod Miller VK2ZZM & I, Dom Bragge VK2JNA are members there (as well as MWRS). We consolidated into about six 4wd vehicles & headed up Mt Gray overlooking Goulburn. Mt Gray is where the majority […]
VHC Pilgrimage 2023
The annual post-Christmas trip to the Victorian High Country was kicked off by Andy VK2EAH and Geoff VK2WA, with Dom VK2JNA in hot pursuit. Dom caught up by Jindabyne and we headed down the Barry Way. We paused at Ingeegoodbee to take in the first scenic lookout: After a quick swim in the fast-flowing (and […]
A Tape Measure Tactical Antenna for Airband
There are plenty of amateur tactical aerials available on the market for 2m and 70cm but I couldn’t find an airband one. I decided to cook one up, but couldn’t find any recipes. I wanted an end-fed half-wave (EFHW) tuned for 125.000 to 127.000 Mhz. We use many flower pots aerials, rubber duckies and quarter […]
VHF portable operation with range
Portable VHF/2m operations can often be a challenge when range is required: Here is a simple and economical portable set-up providing you do not have to run into the bush. Except from the length of the RG58 cable, all the components were picked up from the local council clean-up! The aerial is a ground independent […]
Lectures Online – Something Old, Something New…
Two lectures have been uploaded to VK2MB-TV today. One lecture sat unnoticed on an SD card since it was recorded in February 2022. Sorry about the delay, but better late than never! David VK2CZ did a presentation on Antenna modelling software for Radio Amateurs. The “New” one is last month’s lecture by Zara VK2ZYP, on […]
Another walk in the park
Several members of the club (Carmel VK2CAR, Colin VK2JCC, and Richard VK2SKY) were active portable at Rofe Park in Hornsby Heights today, 17 March. The aim this time was to call in to the Westlakes Amateur Radio Club net (Mon/Wed/Fri at 9.30am on 7115kHz), just for the fun of it. The Westlakes folks were happy […]
The Case of the Elusive Stinger: Repairing a Terlin Outbacker
The Australian Terlin Outbacker antenna has been a stalwart of HF mobile communications since time immemorial. It’s a sturdy, adaptable, vertical antenna that can cover the entire HF spectrum by plugging a flying lead into one one of a number of sockets depending on the band of operation. It also has an adjustable top section, […]
Carmel VK2CAR’s WIA award
Congratulations to Society member Carmel VK2CAR, who picked up the Technical Award in the WIA’s 2020-21 Publications Committee Awards, for her article, “Clothesline wire makes easy ‘multi-band’ antenna”. The article appeared in the WIA’s Amateur Radio magazine, issue 3 for 2020. The award is for an article judged by the Committee to be the best […]
VK2YU Home brew M0MCX DX Commander
Home brew “DX Commander” 7m antenna – November 2021 … Australian date & time Firstly, this build is a copy of a commercial antenna so ALL credit to the design and effort of the idea all goes to the designer: Callum McCormick, M0MCX https://www.m0mcx.co.uk The original build information is here https://www.m0mcx.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/DXC-Rapide-User-Guide.pdf Note there are several […]
WICEN FEBEX2 exercise at VK2MB, 9-10 Jan 2021
The weekend of the 9th and 10th of January was WICEN’s FEBEX-2 communications exercise. A year since the catastrophic NSW bushfires, and with COVID locking down everything since, WICEN felt the need to get members active in sharpening their message passing skills, trying out any new portable gear, and experimenting with new modes. It was […]
FT-897 Suburban QTHenator
(and an exploration into local noise sources) After moving out of a tiny unit into a house I finally had the opportunity to throw a bit of wire into some trees and connect it to my radio. Easy interstate contacts were now available, but there was something nearby making obnoxious noise every 60kHz on HF: […]
VHF Elevated Feed Ground Independent Antenna Base
I’ve got many VHF aerials with a 5/16″ 26TPI fitting. They are typically only good on a car (middle of the roof!?!). They are difficult to use at field days. I’ve used mounts with radials before but the radials became a hazard or annoyance. I decided to build a VHF Elevated Feed Ground Independent Aerial […]
February 2020 Lecture – HF Magnetic Loop Antennas
ARNSW 40m dipole “buildathon” — 10-March-2019
Amateur Radio New South Wales held a 40 metre dipole “buildathon” at Dural earlier this month. The event was aimed at helping Foundation licensees get onto HF, though some Amateurs with other licence grades turned up too. From our club, Sajith VK2FAST and Shaun VK2XPP participated, and Richard VK2SKY came along to “hold hands” and […]