Going Mobile!

I'm getting ready to take my youngest son to an all day Boy Scout Merit badge workshop in Charlottesville, VA tomorrow.  We have to be there at 8:00am and he's there until 6:00pm.  That means that I have the entire middle of the day to head west to the mountains and play radio!!!

I'll be traveling over to Afton Mountain and then I'll head up Skyline Drive for a few miles to a "scenic overlook" named Beagle Gap - it's about mile marker 100 on the map.  Here is a link to the map.

I'm taking a bunch of gear - maybe too much ;)

6m vertical for SSB/CW
2m/70cm vertical for FM/D-Star (car transceiver)
2m yagi for SSB/CW
70cm yagi for SSB/CW
33cm yagi for FM/P25
23cm yagi for SSB/CW

I'm hoping the weather holds out and is nice.

73 de KJ4WLH

2m Stack Complete - Results, Hmmm...

Well, the 2m stack is hanging the back yard and I guess it's ok.  You know, I keep thinking that the effort will mean something substantial - though I know it isn't really.  So, here's what I figure out:

1. 3db gain for a pair of loops +/- is a LOT of trouble for half an S-Unit.
2. I think my 2m pre-amp is broken :(
3. My LMR-400 N connector pins don't fit my LMR-400 coax...
4. ARGHHH...

Sometimes I wonder why I do these things!  I'm super frustrated that the pre-amp isn't working.  I'm pretty much ready to stop purchasing anything used from folks I don't know.  I mean, it was working on the bench - so, one everything it cable'd up, tie wrapped in place, and hanging up in the air - it decides NOT to work?  What's up with that?

So, all the gear is done and I still hear the faint signals of N4MW's 2m beacon on 144.280.  Pre-amp doesn't help at all and I guess sometime I'll figure out what my "lesson learned" is.

All I know is that today, I'm really tired of failure...

73 de KJ4WLH

2m HO Loop Rebuild Project

I had a really high SWR on my 6m loop which meant that I needed to drop it to see what was going on. Since the loop mounting system also holds my 2m and 70cm loops, I decided to rebuild my 2m stack.

I have a 2m pre-amp that I've wanted to get in action for a while. I also have a M2 2m cable phasing set, which would be really great if I had a 2nd loop. So, I placed my order with HEO and ordered the final piece.

My goal is to have a pair if M2 2m HO loops, with a pre-amp mounted and up in the air by the end of the weekend.

Wish me luck!

73de KJ4WLH

2m vertical antenna relocation worked!

I've been having difficulty over the past few months trying to hit my favorite D-Star repeater from my QTH.  It's weird, nothing in my "control" changed - but one day, out of the blue, I could no longer hit the repeater with 2-3 watts of power.

Anyway, over the past weekend, I just finally resolved to move "things" around and see how that might play out - and guess what!  Yeah, it worked.  I relocated my 2m/70cm vertical to another location in the back yard and I'm back to hitting the repeater with just a couple of watts of power.

Nice.

Sometimes I wonder how any of this stuff works at all...

73 de KJ4WLH