K3MRI

I just have a feeling that QRO is going to win out over QRP. I'm curious to see what @KW4TO would choose??

Love this guy... If you like Iowa, farms and tractors, you'll enjoy. Just over three minutes viewing.

ABSOLUTELY SOONER! The hop from General to Extra is not the Grand Canyon! You got this!!

Some hams like to do it all. Other hams like to do one thing in particular. Some like data, others voice, others cw, etc. So, here goes. I have a query. If you had to make a choice, if you had to opt for the world's best QRP setup, or for the world's most impressive QRO setup, which would you pick. Would you prefer an amazing 5W radio, the lightest antenna, the most efficient, lightweight, solar powered battery, and all the other micro bells and whistles that make for an amazing portable setup. Or, instead, would you opt to have the most amazing 1500W linear amplifier, with a tower, and the most insane antenna. Remember, if you had to pick one or the other... which would it be?

If you were wondering, these were my accommodations both Friday and Saturday this year:

@W3TDH and @KN3U - Nice seeing you both today for the Tacoma 4th of July parade. Tom, a thought came to mind after the event. I think we all default to repeater use for public service events whereas for smaller, localized events, might it not be better to go straight for simplex? I’m wondering what you gentlemen think.

First of all, great shots? You are tooooo kind -> iPhone shots!! 😇 Here was Washington Monument State Park where I spent the past few Field Days. Next year we’ll see… I’m thinking of starting up a Ham Community FD team!

Hey Carl, had not officially welcomed you... WELCOME!!! 🎉

You're very welcome Carl and the more questions the merrier. Last point: when you do build stuff, please show us 😉 Love to see people hard at work being creative!! Thanks again for being part of this young and growing community. We appreciate it. Jim

Hey David @W2LNX. Boy did it take me a long time to get you here 😎 Happy that you are and look forward to your expertise. In fact, we need to talk 'Elmer' status for you. I'll see you tomorrow in Tacoma, maybe we can talk then. If not, at the BBQ (thanks for signing up, by the way!)

Nope, that won't work. I'll give you some short answers and then point you to some concepts and reading. First the drawing implies a ground plane but only on side at a time. You're going to have directionality issues. Also, your drawing shows no lengths so no idea which band you're tuned for. Finally, you're creating a relationship between active elements and passive ones that will create a rather bizarre signal. I love antenna design. It is my personal favorite aspect of amateur radio. I also love experimentation and I did notice that you built your own first antenna. But, as with most arts and skills, think martial arts, think fighter jet flying, think surgery; any of those require the basics first. Even if you have already built one, and especially if you are keen on building more, I would first study up on, and practice with, simple, basic, true and tried designs. I'm not saying you have to buy them, you absolutely can, and there are some amazing ready-to-use designs out there, but think about it. Right now you want to get on the air and have fun. Why not do it with the best possible equipment first? Then, once you're on the air and loving it, you experiment, but you do so after having read some of the antenna books, some of which are masterpieces. There are some that are geared towards theory, others are more DIY oriented. There are VHF/UHF books vs. HF ones. There are specific apartment dweller books, vs. the large arrays or super-high towers. Take your pick based on your personal interests and start experimenting away. Here is a simple, available, not too expensive option on the, ready-to-use antenna front: https://amzn.to/3OXMEkB. There are many others. Just Google 2m 6m combo antennas and you'll have them at your fingertips. As far as books are concerned, if you are an antenna nut like me, the reference is: https://www.arrl.org/arrl-antenna-book. Again, many many others, some maybe even better, but this is a go-to, must-have-in-your-library book. As with all advice, I may be completely off the mark and if I am, apologies, but hopefully some of this response will get you closer to getting on the air actively and with great success. 73 Jim

Excuuuuuse me? You would ask me to watch a Christmas movie in summer? Hast thou no shame Sir Lind? Best beware, I fear an angry group of carolers may show up at your doorstep upset at your belittling of their celebratory calendar. Beware indeed!

Hi Carl, and welcome. The short answer is yes, absolutely no problem, inasmuch as you will only be transmitting with one or the other, never with both simultaneously. If you're asking if you can have a vertically polarized antenna in proximity to a horizontally polarized one, there the answer will be more nuanced. The 'other' antenna will interact with the transmitting antenna the same way any other metal surface would. If you have a balcony and it's metal, there you go. If you have a large metal picnic table and bench nearby, there you go. And even non-metallic surfaces will interact. The devil is in the details. If you want to be extreme, you can do an advanced modeling exercise. That will take some work and will only be theoretical and likely quite inaccurate given the likelihood of multiple interacting surfaces. Will you place them one above the other? How close? etc... are all questions that would influence the answer. So in principle, yes, you can easily put two antennas of two different bands and polarizations in reasonable proximity and do fine. If you're asking whether you can make a single antenna that does 6m and 2m, that too is possible though you probably did not mean that otherwise you would not have asked about the interaction of a vertical one with a horizontal one because, de facto, it's one or the other 😎 Does this help? Maybe not, so feel free to fire away any follow ups. Jim

I will absolutely without shame admit that I have never seen A Christmas Story. I know of it and almost watched it a couple of Christmases ago but alas, I did not. Ok, on my list. I'll revisit this thread with more meaningful input next January 🎄

That's actually really funny and cool. I mean talk about QRP challenges. BOTA on VHF / UHF... OMG, I am truly LOL.

I know all the reasons that Baofeng radios get no love. I admit that before owning two of them myself, I was one of those. But I have yet to find a more affordable way of having redundancy capabilities. My go-kit has two Baofengs which cost me less than half of one mainstream HT. Not sure if that's fair to higher end manufacturers but I'm not rich and having the ability to have emergency HTs for a ridiculously low price is attractive to me. And yes, they are becoming increasingly reliable. So I guess my question is whether or not you own a Baofeng and if so, for what use. Started a poll.

Welcome aboard!

Plenty. On the mobile side, my Icom 5100 works great with dual VFOs. On the HT side, my Yaesu VX-8DR is also an amazing dual VFO one. In fact, when I travel, that's what I usually do. Keep one on the calling frequency and the other on a D-star.

You know who still uses VHF lots and lots, people with land. When you have a big plot of land, it's a great tool to 'phone home'. I'm also hoping to revive 146.52 some day. I just had some new stickers printed up and I bought the domain 14652.org. I would love to make 146.52 MHz the Channel 19 of ham. When I drove to Hamvention, I literally went from here to 50 miles from Xenia without a single VHF contact and I was calling out on 146.52 regularly. Nada, Nothing.

Very nice... My claim to fame this year was running the 2AM to 4AM phone shift AND on Saturday, at one point I hit a 100/hour rate, which I think is acceptable?

I AGREE! Don't get me wrong, having that magnificent 40 M Yagi on a 60-foot tower is amazing, but stringing up my 80m wire doublet and having an NVIS QSO with my buddies followed by a 40M or 20M DX with Malta and then Melbourne, now that's MAGIC! I am a wire fanatic!!

The common mode choke on the antenna feedline will help the radio, not the LED. To be effective, you have to put chokes on the LED side, which you can't because it's all hidden wiring. Just to do a final debug, do the LED bulbs go off if they are installed in a socket that is not controlled by a dimmer? Let's just make sure it is not the bulbs (90% sure it's not). As for a really good explanation of chokes on the 'appliance' side, vs. the radio side, https://www.coilcraft.com/en-us/edu/series/a-guide-to-understanding-common-mode-chokes/ - They actually make the chokes that are installed in appliances, hifi, TVs, etc. Of course they are more focussed on high frequencies, which is not your issue. But the explanation is one of the better ones. My instinct tells me that if you want to keep your antenna where it is, if you want to continue feeding it the current power level (and maybe some day more), you are indeed better off going the on/off route (not as pretty, I know). Last note... In re-reading your original post, I would try one more thing. I would look for any electrical wires near the antenna in the attic. Those are the ones most likely to be feeding the hf into your house power lines. If you do find some that are there, as a test, kill the breaker on those lines and see if the interference stops. If it does, then you might want to put chokes on those lines only, thus preventing the signal from propagating throughout the house. Just a thought.

A club after my own heart... A TUBE as a logo!! Love it!! I grew up in very cold weather, I think part of me loved amateur radio as much as I did because the rx and tx kept me warm ♨️