nofars.net

RADIO ROAD TRIP

By Todd Lovelace, K1KVA

Last Friday I pulled the Troop 35 Boy Scout camping trailer down mid-state for my son Robert's {KJ4LYQ} scout troop....had two days to do nada while the kids did scout stuff (ran amok!).  The weather was perfect for playing with electrical toys outdoors.

I used the time-honored "Bat-a-Rang" method to put a rope in the trees. For the too young to remember the original Batman TV show, it as a line with a weight on the end which was thrown to haul a messenger cable across some distance.  I used a cord with a heavy bolt tied to the end and thrown over a tree branch to pull up my Comet GP3 5' tall 2/440 fiberglass vertical antenna.  

This installation used an entire 50-foot-long section of my LMR400 cable, so I know the base was at 50' above ground level. I could hit 17 repeaters from about 20 miles south of Williston FL using my Motorola Spectra's pre-programmed frequencies and tones......

I couldn't reach back to Jax to participate in the Saturday Night simplex net though, not that I thought that it was really likely with a 4.5 db antenna at 50' AGL.....it is about 85 miles as the crow flies according to Google Maps. I was kinda was hoping to get a relay in from Flip (KE4OBT) and Mickey (KD4FBI) in Hastings but no luck.....

I did, however, try loading the coax shield going up to the VHF antenna with my Icom tuner, then adding all of the scrap wire pieces in my go-bag for ground radials. I was hoping that the coax would act as a large-diameter vertical antenna conductor so I wouldn't have to throw any more ropes up in the trees and drag up more wire.

It was very successful - my first contact was Tasmania, AU at 4:00 in the afternoon our time on 20m using 100 watts from the Icom 706 MKIIG.
This was my second contact with Australia....the last was from a 40m NVIS dipole at 6' AGL - same weekend last year this time....from the same scout campsite property. Go figure!

I made numerous other contacts....and checked into 40m SOUTHCARS on Sunday morning with a great signal report from the Net Controller in Tennessee.

I think I'm gonna tip over drop my tower, make some PVC stand-offs for the coax going to the Comet GP9 at the top, and see if I can duplicate my efforts on the home front.

Why buy an expensive vertical antenna when you can use the coax you already have hanging there for another antenna??

Antenna Geeking is FUN.  Portable operation is FUN!   Come join me!