Well, hurricane Sandy did no damage to my Chesapeake Bayside QTH. I am thankful for that and I wish a quick recovery to those that were ravaged by this nasty storm. The winds did leave one of my antennas needing attention. The winds pulled my anchor for the center of my ZS6BKW antenna out of ... Continue Reading →
ZS6BKW Antenna
The ZS6BKW Antenna is one of many HF multi-band wire antennas. It is similar to the famous G5RV antenna, which can cover multiple HF Bands but requires an antenna tuner on most bands. The ZS6BKW follows the design of the G5RV, but makes improvements. These improvements allow it to be used on more bands, and... Continue Reading →
Antenna Design: 20 meter 4-element Colinear
After looking at articles in the ARRL Antenna Book and on L.B. Cebick's web site, I thought a 4-element colinear wire antenna might be useful for my station. I currently use only wire antennas which work fine on 40 and 80 meters, but on the higher Bands, I need some gain. My main goal is... Continue Reading →
20 Meter Colinear Antenna Project
I like to try a new antenna every year for one of my favorite contests. A year or two ago I had great hopes for a 20 meter Colinear wire antenna in the ARRL CW Sweepstakes. I ran out of time and threw one together quickly. It did not do much for me, but I... Continue Reading →
IC-7600 Antenna Tuner Testing
I did a bit of testing with 2 wire antennas this weekend. Here is a summary of the results, which I also posted to the IC-7600 e-mail reflector: The antennas: 1 - A "long" 80m Dipole, ladder line, 4:1 balun, then a long coax run to the rig 2 - A fan dipole with 80/40/20... Continue Reading →
Icom IC-7600 Added to the Shack
I have been looking to purchase a new rig for some time and finally decided to go with the Icom IC-7600. I was torn between this rig, the Elecraft K3, and the Yaesu FT-2000 (because I can not afford the FTDX-5000). For my needs, this is the best of the three. and I will maintain... Continue Reading →
ARRL CW Sweepstakes 2011 Diary – Preparation
Preparing for CWSS this year mainly consisted of antenna work and integration of the SO2R (Single Operator Two Radio) setup in the Shack. I use mostly wire antennas (no Yagis) but one, a "Fan Dipole" (one design example found here) for 80/40 meters had been hanging for several years. I took it down to check... Continue Reading →
Antenna Tuner is Too Smart
Automatic antenna tuners are great. Just tune your radio to the frequency you want, flick the TUNE switch, and you quickly get an optimum match between your rig and the antenna. Well, not always. I have an ICOM IC-7000 with an LDG AT-7000 antenna tuner. This is a great little tuner, but it sure tricked... Continue Reading →
Passing of L.B. Cebik
I just heard that L.B. Cebik has died. The amateur community has lost a real antenna expert and a prolific writer. I never knew L.B. but have spent many hours on his website reading his articles, and using his antenna models. He recently published an interesting article about a short-boom yagi for 6 meters. I... Continue Reading →
Half Square Array
I've been looking for some new wire antennas to try. The Half Square (HS) looks interesting. It is two 1/4 wave vertical elements, with a 1/2 wave horizontal element connecting them. The ARRL Antenna Book has a writeup that looks interesting. I really need something cut for 20 meters and this might be worth trying.... Continue Reading →
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