Museum Ships Weekend 2017

[Rastus]

Coax and a 1:1 balun and some junk wire will do it.  I have two antennas in the attic...neither with a balun though.

I used 440 Ohm ladder line and cut one for 20M and 15M and the other for 80M and 40M.  The 80M needs a tuner to be really useful but no tuner for the other bands.  Took about 15 minutes to cut them to size once they were up.

HOWEVER...https://www.dxengineering.com/search/department/antennas/part-type/wire-antennas/product-line/mfj-17754-40-20m-dipole-antennas?autoview=SKU&N=4294953330%2B4294953279&sortby=Default&sortorder=Ascending one like this one form DXEngineering will nicely fit the bill.  Probably 95+% of my contacts the last couple of years has come from 20M and 40M.  Last year 40M was the best 3:1 over 20M. 

So...if you put something up a 20M dipole and a 40M dipole will do it. 

Ken
KE5JDJ

[Rastus]

Well good news for conditions right now for 20M (14.225-14.350) which is the portion of the 20M band for Ships is looking better for communications.  Also up to 106 ships and I'd assume there will be a dozen stragglers getting in between now and Friday evening when this kicks off.

It starts 0000Z June 3,  to 2359Z June 4, 2017 which is 7 PM Central this Friday the 2nd through 7PM this Sunday the 4th.  A list of "central frequencies" and which mode is used is listed below.

Before I had my ham license and setup I used to listen in each year on my shortwave....

Approximate Single Sideband Frequencies & Modes

LSB - 3,860 KHz   
LSB - 7,260 KHz 

USB - 14,260 KHz 
USB - 18,160 KHz
USB - 21,360 KHz
USB - 24,960 KHz
USB - 28,360 KHz
USB - 50,160 KHz

[Rastus]

Alf I got a Hustler 6BTV vertical antenna in yesterday I'm going to add to the dipoles.  They are pretty good and about $200-$220 bucks and handles 6 bands including 30M CW which I do not use.  However, it is supposed to edge out the 5BTV  which is 5 bands without 30M for around $190.  The reason I point this out is because I checked the HRO store in Atlanta...not knowing how far you are from there but it's the right state.  Anyway, the Atlanta store is supposed to have 5BTV models in stock but no 6BTV's. 

I'm just sayin'...  http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-003358

Ham Radio Outlet
6071 Buford Hwy NE
Atlanta, GA 30340
+1-770-263-0700

[Jim Kennedy-ar154me]

Alf I got a Hustler 6BTV vertical antenna in yesterday I'm going to add to the dipoles.  They are pretty good and about $200-$220 bucks and handles 6 bands including 30M CW which I do not use.  However, it is supposed to edge out the 5BTV  which is 5 bands without 30M for around $190.  The reason I point this out is because I checked the HRO store in Atlanta...not knowing how far you are from there but it's the right state.  Anyway, the Atlanta store is supposed to have 5BTV models in stock but no 6BTV's. 

I'm just sayin'...  http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-003358

Ham Radio Outlet
6071 Buford Hwy NE
Atlanta, GA 30340
+1-770-263-0700

You might want to check out DX Engineering. They have some add on's for the hustler antenna that will further improve the performance. When you add the ground plate and add ground radials cut to harmonic lengths for the different bands it turns this into a "super" antenna. They also have a plate you can use that has a tilt feature to easily lower your antenna. Real handy during the SWR adjustment of the different bands.  Just my .02.

https://www.dxengineering.com/search?keyword=DXE-RADP-3&SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending

[Pathfinder]

I'm going to try to be on the air with either a Packtenna mini end-fed, or a new dipole I built from a kit. I live in an HOA so I have to be stealthy with the antenna.

I've used the Packtenna before, pulls in very well - talked with a guy briefly in Pensacola. I use it in an NVIS configuration from my deck to the back fence, so not sure how far it will pull in.

The dipole is a Pacific Antenna kit - you have to wind the coils and cut to fit - for 20 & 40M. Never used it before, will try to get it set up on my north-facing deck using crappie poles to create an M-shaped pattern. I have clamp mounts for the poles so it's not a permanent install, and I'm hoping the fishing poles will hide the fact that I ain't using fishing line but wires!   

I'm actually just getting my shack set up. I picked up an MFJ pass-through for running the antennas out through the window and still keep the window closed. The pictures online show the pass-through painted, the instructions say its painted, but I got raw wood in mine, so I had to wait for some nice (i.e., not wet) spring Kentucky days to get it primed and finished. That part is done, I need to cut it to fit the window and re-install the steel plates and SO-239s today, and it should be good to go.

I got the pass-through (among other things) at the Dayton Hamvention in Xenia this year - my first time at Hamvention - and I will be back next year for certain!

[Sponsor]

[Rastus]

I picked up my Hustler from DXEngineering.  I got the coax direct connector but not the radial plate...that would have been more $$$'s than I want to spend.  I'm going to drop off a few radials or some chickenwire for now.  The 6BTV is going to end up with the RV I think.

Get with it Geoff.  You are close enough to the east coast action that the NVIS will work real well for you on 40M.

[alfsauve]

Thanks, 154, Rastus and Path,

It's not "the antenna", it's mounting it that's the problem.   It just hasn't bubbled up in priority of "to-dos" around the house.  By the time I was close to mounting the dipole, I changed my mind and sold it and the rotor off.   I've got a 20m Vertical and am close to mounting it.   

I'll get there.  Maybe next year.  Maybe next month.

Yes, HRO isn't terribly far.  I don't stop in too often, cause they have a bad habit of sucking money out of my pocket.

[Rastus]

Yeah I hear you.  Last year I was sabotaged by work and this year sabotaged by my semi-retirement.  Hopefully next year I'll get all the antennas up in time however....

This time I am relying on the two sorry attic antennas and one dipole in the front yard.  I tune the outside dipole into 20M and 40M.  I didn't have the time to put the vertical I bought up nor get the 80M dipole up this year.  Only 10 contacts so far....disappointing.

[Pathfinder]

Well, that was something of a bust!

I managed to pick up 2 broadcasts on 20M - one at 1906UTC from the "mother" ship, NJ2BB. The other was 15 minutes earlier from Rastus' neighborhood, a SUBMARINE IN OKLAHOMA!!!! That was Ian on WW2SUB, the USS Batfish.

No one apparently could hear me, as I called repeatedly for a signal check on multiple frequencies, especially those I heard people talking on. I even tried to hook up with the New Jersey in Philadelphia by callsign rather than just a CQ. NO-GO with any of it.

I definitely have to get my antenna working better. Part of the problem is that I crashed into bed the last 2 days with the onset of a summer cold so I wasn't able to set everything up properly. As a result I was using the random wire end-fed with a tuner (NVIS) instead of the 20/40M dipole I hoped to use.

I am impressed that I picked up the transmissions from WW2SUB, as that is about 725 miles away, a bit farther than I thought an NVIS could go.

[Rastus]

20M has been good at that range.  I talked to the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge and the USS Orleck in Lake Charles.  That close...around 500-550 miles is a bit short for 20M coms during the day in my brief experience.  Last night on 20M spoke to a guy in the Cook Islands that was crystal clear at 5,500 miles a way. 

I had to disconnect for some thunderstorms in the area but I'm going to fire it up again pretty quick.

I heard some guy in Kentucky talking that came in real clear....