When it comes to erecting an HF wire antenna the conventional wisdom is “the higher the better”. For many wire antennas that is good advice. But sometimes a very low wire antenna is actually a much better alternative. Let me explain.

I have been using a long wire antenna, both at my home QTH and out in the field (where I prefer to operate in the warmer months) that is approximately 132 feet long and only 12 feet high! It works very well on 20m, 40m and 80m and, theoretically, on 160m too (although I have yet to try it on top band). The low height is not a compromise; it is actually absolutely essential to the operation of the antenna!

I am mostly a CW operator and I needed a NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave) antenna for my weekly check-in to a 80m CW net in Shelburne, Ontario. I also wanted the same antenna to be usable on my other regular bands of 20m and 40m. A wire that is 132 feet long, erected in a straight line, at a height above ground of only 12 feet checks all the boxes in my needs list. It is a half-wave on 80m and radiates an almost perfectly vertical signal which is reflected by the ionosphere’s F2 layer back down to the ground over a radius of about 400km.

But, how does it work on the higher bands, 20m and 40m? The answer lies in both its length and its low height above ground. On the 40-metre band the wire is a full wavelength long. On the 20-metre band the wire is two wavelengths long. A wire that is at least one wavelength long behaves quite differently to a regular half-wave dipole. A dipole erected high above the ground radiates broadside to the wire. A long wire (sometimes called a “wave antenna”) radiates off the ends of the wire. As the wire is brought lower to the ground the take-off angle decreases. As HF operators know, a low take-off angle is good for DX contacts. An added bonus of a low wire is that it doesn’t pick up as much noise, making weak signals easier to copy.

The downside is that, as the wire is brought lower, ground losses begin to increase rapidly. The U.S. military used wave antennas as low as 1-metre during the Vietnam war. They are very easy to erect and hard for the enemy to spot. Ground losses also limited the range of communication sufficiently to lessen the chance of unwanted enemy signal surveillance.

Hams are generally interested in longer range contacts so ground losses are undesirable. Although even long wires laid directly on the ground actually work (I have QSOd myself with a 148ft long “Grasswire” antenna and only 5 watts of transmitted power), raising the wire up to 12 feet strikes a balance between ground losses and directionality. I have successfully used my home QTH antenna for DX contacts as far away as Europe with less than 100 watts of transmitted power.

It is essential that the wire is run in a straight line for operation on the higher bands. 132 feet of wire just fits within my suburban Owen Sound lot but, of course, length is not a concern when operating from a park in the summer. The wire is fed from one end and that presents a challenge. The feedpoint impedance can be thousands of ohms but that is taken care of by a 49:1 transformer wound on a large ferrite toroid. It is fed by 100 feet of coax and the coax shield acts as a counterpoise. Performance has been outstanding as evidenced by the contacts in my log. NVIS, short range contacts on 80m, mid-range contacts on 40m and long-range DX contacts all from a simple single wire antenna. It is stealthy too which is a bonus when the curiosity of neighbours and Provincial Park rangers is to be avoided!

John Corby, VA3KOT

Name here is John, callsign VA3KOT. I'm a new member of the club but I've been an active ham for 20 years and an active SWL for many years before that. I was previously a member of the Peel Amateur Radio Club and the York Region Amateur Radio Club. My passion is operating ham radio in the great outdoors and I have spoken on that topic at meetings of both my previous clubs.

One of the great advantages of outdoor ops is that you can find a really good location for radio signal propagation and, best of all, you escape all the noise generated by all the electrical devices in your home and elsewhere. For several years I have been operating QRP (5 watts) on the HF bands. Recent poor propagation conditions caused by the current deep solar minimum have made QRP even more of a challenge so I invested in a new portable radio (a Yaesu FT-891) that will allow me to boost power when needed.

There is a tradeoff between QRP vs QRO when it comes to portability. Higher power rigs consume more battery power. If you want to operate from a location such as Skinners Bluff (one of my favourites) you don't want to carry very heavy batteries in your backpack! My lightweight portable QRP rig is a Hendricks PFR-3 CW only kit radio that will run for hours on a small Li-Ion battery. Li-Ion cells require some care but they have high energy density and can be obtained very cheaply (hams are cheap by nature).

Those of us who live on small lots have restrictions on the size of antennas we can use. But, out in the great outdoors you can find locations where you can put up whatever kind of antenna you wish - as long as it is simple and portable. I operated from Kelso Beach Park in Owen Sound a few years ago using a 250ft long wire stretched along the low trees at the edge of the parking lot.

There are organizations supporting outdoor operating activities. For example Parks-On-The-Air (POTA) is very popular. Several local parks are available for "activation". Posting your plans to activate a park will usually result in a lot of contacts.

Of course, outdoor ham activity is most enjoyable in the summer. I like to go camping in my travel trailer between May and October and always set up my portable radio equipment at campsites. But operations in winter are also possible. Just set up your rig in your car, throw a wire up into a tree and key up!

Give it a try, or join me on my of my day trips. Ham radio in the great outdoors is a whole lot of fun and we have so many great locations right on our doorstep in this beautiful part of the province.
John, VA3KOT

i recently found this site https://www.hamsphere.com on the air through your computer

Page last updated on: Friday, October 18, 2019
Will a Beginners licence cure the slump in new radio amateurs?

The number getting their UK Foundation licence has slumped in the past 13 years. In this YouTube video RSGB VHF Manager John Regnault G4SWX discusses his proposal for a Beginners Amateur Radio Licence

1892 newcomers gained their Foundation licence in 2005 but there were only 1366 in 2018 a drop of 28%. At the same time the RadCom Silent Keys column shows the death-rate of amateurs has increased. Take into account the natural churn in the hobby as people leave to pursue other interests and it's clear the number of newcomers is insufficient to cover those being lost - the hobby is in decline.

It has been suggested we need at least 2,000 newcomers each year just to maintain current activity levels and even now the VHF/UHF bands can be very quiet most of the time. To grow the hobby and increase activity at VHF/UHF we need many more than that.

Watch A beginners UK amateur radio licence?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYGAmtClfzc

New UK Entry Level Licence proposed
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/oc...oposed.htm

Read the report on the Future & Growth of Amateur Radio presentations given at the RSGB Convention on October 13
https://www.essexham.co.uk/news/rsgb-con...-2019.html

Japan's Class 4 ham radio licence
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/oc...icence.htm

Can online ham radio exams improve accessibility?

http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/oc...bility.htm



Ham Chat UK - Discuss the future of amateur radio
https://groups.io/g/HamChat

Hi all.

Our Club has has been approached to support a charity fundraiser. It is this coming Sunday October 6th. We're looking for volunteers. The more with cross band repeat ability, the better. I don't have a lot of details to offer at this time, but I will have more in the very near future.

73
Tom
VA3TVA

From Dayton Daily News:
The Fair Board in Greene County has struck a long-term agreement to keep hosting the Dayton Hamvention event at the county fairgrounds. Officials confirmed today that the board and the Dayton Amateur Radio Association have reached an agreement on a five-year deal to continue hosting the annual amateur radio convention at the fairgrounds in Xenia.

This list is from the Minuteman Repeater Association in Massachusetts (https://www.mmra.org/). A couple of the items are specific to their club, but I hope folks will find something useful in it.
73
Dave, VE3WI
-------------------
A Few Hints for Public Service Participants
Bruce Pigott KC1US, Minuteman Repeater Association

After working a number of public service activities, I started making notes on how to be a more effective communicator. Some of the suggestions come from observations, others are from my own experience.

Be concise: Each message should be brief and convey a single piece of information.

Dress sharp: You have to earn respect quickly. Many other volunteers and professionals are observing you and your actions.

Use plain language: Q signals, Morse code prosigns, and funny phonetics are unnecessary on voice channels and reduce message comprehension.

Push to talk, Wait to talk: All repeaters have delay. Some have more transmit delay than others, especially linked systems.

Talk slowly: Net control and other stations are either out in the open, or in a room full of noise.

Stay calm: Shouting into the mike and not keeping the radio antenna vertical decreases readability.

Think long: The repeater uses an 18 foot antenna from a better location. Use a minimum of a quarterwave antenna (at least 15” for two meters) on your hand held radio so you will be heard.

Lock it: Place your radio in lock mode so your assigned channel does not get changed.

Label it: Since situations and sometimes locations change rapidly, keeping track of your gear is easier with labels.

Volunteer early: Check the Public Service List, local section news or club nets, so organizers can make assignments and return event details to you.

Be patient: There will be a lot of waiting for events to happen. When the peak hits, both net control and field operators will get busy with multiple activities.

Be aware: of your situation. There may be hazards to be vigilant for while you are doing your communication tasks.

Make notes: You will forget the call of the ham you want to talk to later, or what broke on your radio(until the start of the next walk).

Wear good socks: You will be on your feet quite a bit, so take a tip from hikers about supportive footwear and good socks.

Eat early: Once the walkers/runners/cyclists start coming, the interruptions will be continuous.

Be flexible: Information is not always available when the event starts. You will be called on to do multiple tasks.

Be specific: Include limitations on time, transportation, or personal capabilities in your sign up data. Do not wait until you receive your assignment, and then assignments have to be juggled.

Take it off: your belt. Leaving your HT next to your body will cause up to a 15dB loss in transmit power. Your two watts are reduced to only 1/16 of a watt.

Turn it down: The person you are shadowing does not need radio chatter blasting in their ear all daylong. You should be a filter so the coordinator can do their job effectively.

Equipment will break: Have appropriate spares and tools you know how to use.

Make a list: Keep a short checklist of equipment needed for working these well controlled events. This will be a subset of the items in a full ARES go kit. Update it based on event experience.

Copyright © 1998-2009 Bruce Pigott KC1US <http:// www.mmra.org/pubserv/>May be reproduced with proper attribution. 2009:039

IC-705: 10W, HF/VHF/UHF portable. Yet another all-in-one transceiver aimed at the portable ops market. Now, if we only had some sunspots!

Brochure: https://t.co/w7PJYFy0Yq

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RW6xiLAoyc

73
Dave, VE3WI

Anyone working on restoring vintage rigs? I have been doing a few over the past couple years and they are not that difficult to get working for the most part. The most recent is a Yaesu FT-101ZD mklll that I picked up on kwarc. It was untested, quite dirty and fortunately low priced. The face wasn't scratched up but the case needed painting. The knob inserts which originally are silver, were bronze from nicotine stains and the rest of the rig was grimy under dust and dirt. It cleaned up quite well and I repainted the cabinet with Rustoleum Winter Grey. I steel wooled the cabinet to remove the rust and glaze but I left the pebble texture in the original finish. The new top coat still shows the texture. Inside, I cleaned all the switches, pots, band switch wafers, relay contacts and all the harness connectors with deoxit. I had to net the trimmer for the display counter so it reads accurately. I have been using it for a few weeks now and it works great! It is great fun to use a piece of gear that you have brought back to life from the junk pile. Here is a before shot
73 Don ve3ids

We had a great day at the race. Perfect weather & no bears this year

Ham volunteers (hope I don't miss anyone):

Tim VE3RTE & Greg VE3NXB ran net control at Wiarton arena.

In the field: Bobby VE3PAV, Doug VE3WRF, Frank VA3GUF, Fred VA3STG, Phil VE3QVC, Tom VA3TVA, Zane VA3ZRD & yours truly VE3WI.

Frank & Tom overcame an early repeater problem & kept us communicating. My attempt to reach the portable repeater from Hope Bay with a 4 el. yagi up about 20' did not work, but fortunately Fred's crossband repeater in his vehicle worked great again.

Lots of fun watching someone doing touch-and-goes on Hope Bay with a cute little amphibian (ICON 5 I think. Best 500k$ he ever spent!).

See you all again on 8 Aug 2020!

73
Dave, VE3WI