I used the IFR 1600 and the return loss bridge to run a sweep of the 6 Meter beams I recently built, and here are the results. On a 10 MHz wide sweep, the peak resonant frequency shows up at 51.2739 MHz. At that frequency the analyzer is seeing -83.7 dBm coming back through the […]
Month: October 2014
224.980 Repeater Duplexer Tuning Check/Adjustment
I put the IFR 1600 to work tuning duplexer cavities for the first time today. I went back through the BP/BR cavities on the 224.980 MHz KK4ICE repeater. I’m quite pleased with both the service monitor and the cavities. These screen shots show the pass and reject tuning and performance after I finished tuning the […]
IFR 1600S Added to the Bench
A new tool has been added to the KK4ICE workbench — an IFR 1600S service monitor. The spectrum analyzer and tracking generator functions included in this piece of gear will make the tuning of duplexer cavities, filters, and antennas even easier than before. Add in all the other great features and this machine will serve […]
Radio Blackouts Due to Solar Activity Possible Today
Don’t be surprised if conditions on all HF frequencies get very strange or poor at times today, due to solar activity:
220 Mhz, 6-Element Beam Antenna
I built this handheld 220Mhz, 6-Element beam yesterday. It’s constructed of a 48″x1/2″x1-1/2″ strip of Poplar, six silicon bronze welding rods, and a piece of coax robbed from an old, broken mobile antenna mount. The PVC handle added to the end is simply to make it easier to hand-hold. Initial testing of the antenna brought […]
Worked Ecuador on 6-Meters, Slovakia on 10-Meters
There was apparently a sweet — albeit brief — opening on 6 Meters this afternoon. I worked HC5VF in Ecuador at 20:48 UTC. There was also a nice opening yesterday on 10-Meters, during which I worked EA6AZ in Spain and OM3TWM in Kosice, Slovakia. Here’s the eQSL card for the QSO to Slovakia:
Arcing Noise Problem Eliminated — Thank you Opelika Power Services
A crew from Opelika Power Services came out today to check out the arcing problem identified in my previous couple of posts. They found that the ground wire which is attached to the lightning arrestor/surge diverter was too close to the arm on which the diverter is attached, which is known to lead to arcing […]