INGO HAM Radio Club

[Cameramonkey]

Remember, ideally your antenna will be a full wave long. Of course that usually isnt practical, so they are often made at LEAST as a half wave, or quarter wave long. a cheat sheet I found quickly googling.

Ham Radio HF/VHF Antenna Lengths

www.hamuniverse.com

And figure out what bands you expect to use first. No sense buying/building for something that wont be used.

And an auto tuner can help with some of the impedance matching.

 

[laf]

Remember, ideally your antenna will be a full wave long. Of course that usually isnt practical, so they are often made at LEAST as a half wave, or quarter wave long. a cheat sheet I found quickly googling.

Ham Radio HF/VHF Antenna Lengths

www.hamuniverse.com

And figure out what bands you expect to use first. No sense buying/building for something that wont be used.

And an auto tuner can help with some of the impedance matching.

Not so sure the ideal length of an antenna is a full wavelength long. The takeoff angle is dependent on the resonance and having a full wave isn't always the best angle to get the signal out to the rest of the world. If you're trying to stay closer and use a lower band you can try for NVIS but generally the 1/2 wave length is a better choice to work long distances. If you're making a loop, different story, but those are usually shorter still and matched with capacitors.

Auto tuner is a good compromise if you can't fit 100 feet of antenna in the yard to get down to 80m. Great video from Dave about dipoles that may help explain length better and why your auto tuner can match the higher bands much easier.

If you do decide on a 7300 you'll be satisfied. Is a fine rig. I can't use all the bands and I use a fan dipole but 80,60,40,20,17,15 are good enough to enjoy it with an external tuner to match a much wider range.

 

[Cameramonkey]

You are correct. I was thinking purely receive efficiency.

 

[OurDee]

I'm going to try and get scheduled for the March 13th testing on Georgetown Rd.

 

[bb37]

I'm going to try and get scheduled for the March 13th testing on Georgetown Rd.

Good! I'm a Volunteer Examiner and I'll try to attend that session to help out.

I think that end-fed half-wave antenna would be a good place to start if you have the room. My Antennas has one that covers 80m through 10m. That only leaves out 160m and 6m which are not used as much as 80, 40, 20, and 10m.

Oh, Dave Casler KE0OG comes across as an old fart, but he's really very knowledgeable. You'll learn a lot by watching his YouTube videos.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I think this applies.



On an unrelated note, why is the guy dropping the round covering his ears? He's wearing earpro! LOL

 

[M4Madness]

I just ordered the following:

Icom IC-7300 transceiver

Astron RS-35M-AP power supply

I guess there's no turning back now. LOL!

 

[Sailor]

I need stealth at my home also. The chameleon emcomm III is working well for me. It is in my 2 story attic. I replaced the wire with poly stealth. the wire exits the home out a vent and is draped in some pine trees. So thin you can not hear it. Works great for how it is set up. Tunes easily with my IC-7300, I can easily work Winlink Vara or JS8 at 5w with the 7300 or my IC-705.

 

[Sailor]

I just ordered the following:

Icom IC-7300 transceiver

Astron RS-35M-AP power supply

I guess there's no turning back now. LOL!

Congrats you will love it.

 

[Spear Dane]

I think this applies.



On an unrelated note, why is the guy dropping the round covering his ears? He's wearing earpro! LOL

Because they are trained from the start to do that.

 

[OurDee]

Good! I'm a Volunteer Examiner and I'll try to attend that session to help out.

I think that end-fed half-wave antenna would be a good place to start if you have the room. My Antennas has one that covers 80m through 10m. That only leaves out 160m and 6m which are not used as much as 80, 40, 20, and 10m.

Oh, Dave Casler KE0OG comes across as an old fart, but he's really very knowledgeable. You'll learn a lot by watching his YouTube videos.

Yes sir. I'm in on the 13th. Going to test for Technician and then try the General test.

 

[M4Madness]

Yes sir. I'm in on the 13th. Going to test for Technician and then try the General test.

Good luck!

 

[indysims]

Yes sir. I'm in on the 13th. Going to test for Technician and then try the General test.

Same here

 

[bb37]

If I haven't mentioned it before, I'll give you one piece of advice.

It's good to take the online exams and strive for perfect or near-perfect scores. But, don't obsess about it. Both the Technician and General test will have 35 questions each. You need only 26 correct answers on each test to pass. Once you have your license, the number of questions you answered correctly won't make a difference.

However, once you get your license, the learning doesn't stop. I've been licensed for 30 years and have my Extra. But, I'm still learning new stuff.

 

[ibbob]

Old school classes up north

@Hawkeye
Sounds like we might be range. I keep the 146.985 on scan and check into the nets once in a while

 

[OurDee]

I passed Technician and General today. It seemed weird testing on paper as compared to my computer screen. Waiting for my call sign now. My bucket list check mark is getting closer. I want to talk to the ISS.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Congrats OD! Welcome to the club!

 

[Hawkeye]

I passed Technician and General today. It seemed weird testing on paper as compared to my computer screen. Waiting for my call sign now. My bucket list check mark is getting closer. I want to talk to the ISS.

Congrats! YOu should be able to go on-line by the end of the week and find it in the FCC database, assuming your VE group is on top of things.

 

[bb37]

Congrats on passing the tests. Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the testing session.

Here are some realities about the speediness of FCC license issuance. It's the job of the Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) to review the results of a testing session and send a file to the FCC with the data for any new or upgraded licenses. Some VECs (specifically ARRL VEC) require that the local VE team mail a packet containing the paperwork from the test session to the VEC's office where the VEC generates the file to send to the FCC. Some VECs (specifically Laurel VEC) have the VE team enter all the data, at the test session, into a computer database, then a "state coordinator" for the VEC reviews what the VE team did, and then the results are transmitted to the FCC.

So, how quickly you get your license depends a lot on how quickly the local VE team and the VEC process your test results and application. I have been a VE at Laurel test sessions on a Saturday and the examinees had their licenses on Monday. Obviously, an ARRL test session will take longer.

I'm an ARRL Life Member, but I do think they need to get on board with electronic test session processing like Laurel uses.

 

[Hawkeye]

Congrats on passing the tests. Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the testing session.

Here are some realities about the speediness of FCC license issuance. It's the job of the Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) to review the results of a testing session and send a file to the FCC with the data for any new or upgraded licenses. Some VECs (specifically ARRL VEC) require that the local VE team mail a packet containing the paperwork from the test session to the VEC's office where the VEC generates the file to send to the FCC. Some VECs (specifically Laurel VEC) have the VE team enter all the data, at the test session, into a computer database, then a "state coordinator" for the VEC reviews what the VE team did, and then the results are transmitted to the FCC.

So, how quickly you get your license depends a lot on how quickly the local VE team and the VEC process your test results and application. I have been a VE at Laurel test sessions on a Saturday and the examinees had their licenses on Monday. Obviously, an ARRL test session will take longer.

I'm an ARRL Life Member, but I do think they need to get on board with electronic test session processing like Laurel uses.

Mine must have been Laurel as I found my call sign a few days after passing the test.