... what's up with ham radio?
Tempus fugit. The T-shirt slogan, "time flies when you having a good time", may be seriously misleading, or maybe that was how it used to be in days gone by when "things" were very different. Anything behind the last word you just read is history. I am not getting into any discussion today on time, nor space, neither time travel nor space travel. It is boxing day here and since 2.00 AM I was awakened by the sound of music, actually, its was the thumping sounds from a rhythm box some 1/4 mile away in the West where a DJ and and his orchestra has set up on a flatbed for street jamming all day today. I will have to post some snaps here so that you can get a peep at the Caribbean lifestyle as it pertains to the Jouvert morning jam.
Everybody is familiar with rock concerts and the kind of audio power that is run from the amplifiers, so try to imagine that set-up on a flat bed being hauled through 20-foot and 30-foot wide streets by a tractor, and few hundred people street dancing, or jamming as we call it here, behind that music all day long. I am not mentioning the party [free beer and stuff] that is also taking place within the dancing band. It is something you have to experience, and I guaranteed you will not be the same again.
My ham buddy 4KAI and I had a plan to build the ultimate audio amplifier for these music lovers, using a couple 4-400A or 4-1000A, but we never got around to it, but maybe we can resurrect the idea again in time for Jouvert 2010. Last year noise pollution laws were legislated here, but that does not address the intensity of music for and at Carnival organised functions, only for private and domestic functions ... after dark. I am just imagining a pair of 4-1000A in AB1 or AB2, hahaha, being driven with some bob Marley or Sparrow. That could only be awesome. On the downside, these amps and power supplies will have chains, padlocks and Brinks security, because those audio guys like to tamper and 4Kv has no friends.
Quite a few hams have linear amplifiers and I hear talk of getting them on the air every week but nothing is happening. The intent is encouraging and I add my support. Of course I take the opportunity to inform them that my Drake L-4B is still making a door stop, and some hams have even staged surprise visits to my QTH to witness the truth for themselves. Now, if they are already complaining about my signal strength barefoot, what will happen when I crank up the L-4B to 1500 watts? And the TS-940SAT can drive the pant off the L-4B. There is no better antenna than the top and bottom loaded vertical dipole antenna for anyone who want to work the world.
Actually my last sentence was '... to work the world on a budget", but I deleted after "world" because 'budget' only apply to a few of us who prefer to build this antenna for pennies, or in some cases for next to nothing, while other hams can afford to purchase similar looking ready made configurations that bear a brand name, comes with everything in the box, including a warranty, etc. The bottom line is that I am glad that hams are able to bring a measure of improved success to their hobby with the correct accessories, whether home made or commercial.
I have not erected the 40-meter T-cap as yet. It is still on the ground next to the mast. Maybe later today, after surviving the Jouvert jam, I will get it on the mast. I have to get my landscaper to cut down the pawpaw tree from around the 80-meter vertical. Since my altercation with the machete I do not handle that tool anymore. This is my ham radio weekend so everything will get done and we go into 2010 on a high. One does not have to wait for old years or new years to make plans for anything in life. It should be ongoing and continuous, and waiting for tomorrow could be detrimental to one growth and development, because "tomorrow never comes".
My Flex 3000 radio never came, because I never ordered it. In Life one has to make the correct decisions and buying the Flex 3000 now would be a bad decision. So it is now on my wish list for 2010, having been displaced by a new Canon EOS camera body and a few Canon L series lenses. I am also re-looking at my ham radio needs, and think that I should include another component, since I have an interest in fishing. So I am now looking for a commercial marine radio with total ham radio transmit capability, and I am impressed with what I see so far.
So my ham radio is still on track going into 2010, and what about yours? Have you tried out the top and bottom loaded vertical dipole as yet? Maybe you are someone who prefers the multi band version antennas. That is not for me. I am not into any compromised performance on all bands. I want perfect performance on each band, and I am blessed [thank God] with space enough to erect single band vertical dipoles, that I can tune up to their max. Yes it calls for more coax cable, but when you can buy 1000-feet for less than 99 bucks off eBay, that is not a problem. Down here real antenna wire can be a problem. Electrical installation wire will stretch and construction binding wire will work but cannot take a kilowatt. Oh, I have been there so I know.
I am still trying to understand why hams here complain about not having any coax cable when so many miles of coax cable are dumped in the landfill by the local CableTv company maintenance section annually. I can't recall the last time that I used any of the brand names or cable designations that hams here seem to think are what we should only be using for our ham radio communications. Guess I need to conduct more research in this area. Coax cable seems to be the major holdup to hams coming on the air, but cooperative efforts to procure the coax cable do not seem to work here either, but I am not loosing any sleep over this one.
In my early days of ham radio coax cable cable was non existent and I resorted to TV twin lead, electrical flex wire and also telephone drop wire. These proved to be excellent performers, given the power used and the contacts made. Some hams still swear by the open and twin leads, but I do not have any antenna systems or components that would justify using that transmission feed line today. The telephone drop line and an MFJ tuner was one of the best setups I used back then. I am now opposed to the use of any tuner on any of my antennas.
Most hams use coax cable, but many of them may not use a balun at both ends to get the best performance from their antenna system. I find it to be most convenient to use an air core balun wound with a section of the coax feed line. I do not have the tuning difficulty with verticals anymore since incorporating the ugly balun into my antenna systems. According to the theory every vertical antenna needs to work into a balun, irrespectively, but some hams don't take the time nor make the effort to get tis right, the first time ... and then they say verticals don't work for them. I believe that the most used antenna in the world is a VERTICAL, but for some reason unknown to me, hams seem to go first for any other type of antenna.
[to be continued]
Everybody is familiar with rock concerts and the kind of audio power that is run from the amplifiers, so try to imagine that set-up on a flat bed being hauled through 20-foot and 30-foot wide streets by a tractor, and few hundred people street dancing, or jamming as we call it here, behind that music all day long. I am not mentioning the party [free beer and stuff] that is also taking place within the dancing band. It is something you have to experience, and I guaranteed you will not be the same again.
My ham buddy 4KAI and I had a plan to build the ultimate audio amplifier for these music lovers, using a couple 4-400A or 4-1000A, but we never got around to it, but maybe we can resurrect the idea again in time for Jouvert 2010. Last year noise pollution laws were legislated here, but that does not address the intensity of music for and at Carnival organised functions, only for private and domestic functions ... after dark. I am just imagining a pair of 4-1000A in AB1 or AB2, hahaha, being driven with some bob Marley or Sparrow. That could only be awesome. On the downside, these amps and power supplies will have chains, padlocks and Brinks security, because those audio guys like to tamper and 4Kv has no friends.
Quite a few hams have linear amplifiers and I hear talk of getting them on the air every week but nothing is happening. The intent is encouraging and I add my support. Of course I take the opportunity to inform them that my Drake L-4B is still making a door stop, and some hams have even staged surprise visits to my QTH to witness the truth for themselves. Now, if they are already complaining about my signal strength barefoot, what will happen when I crank up the L-4B to 1500 watts? And the TS-940SAT can drive the pant off the L-4B. There is no better antenna than the top and bottom loaded vertical dipole antenna for anyone who want to work the world.
Actually my last sentence was '... to work the world on a budget", but I deleted after "world" because 'budget' only apply to a few of us who prefer to build this antenna for pennies, or in some cases for next to nothing, while other hams can afford to purchase similar looking ready made configurations that bear a brand name, comes with everything in the box, including a warranty, etc. The bottom line is that I am glad that hams are able to bring a measure of improved success to their hobby with the correct accessories, whether home made or commercial.
I have not erected the 40-meter T-cap as yet. It is still on the ground next to the mast. Maybe later today, after surviving the Jouvert jam, I will get it on the mast. I have to get my landscaper to cut down the pawpaw tree from around the 80-meter vertical. Since my altercation with the machete I do not handle that tool anymore. This is my ham radio weekend so everything will get done and we go into 2010 on a high. One does not have to wait for old years or new years to make plans for anything in life. It should be ongoing and continuous, and waiting for tomorrow could be detrimental to one growth and development, because "tomorrow never comes".
My Flex 3000 radio never came, because I never ordered it. In Life one has to make the correct decisions and buying the Flex 3000 now would be a bad decision. So it is now on my wish list for 2010, having been displaced by a new Canon EOS camera body and a few Canon L series lenses. I am also re-looking at my ham radio needs, and think that I should include another component, since I have an interest in fishing. So I am now looking for a commercial marine radio with total ham radio transmit capability, and I am impressed with what I see so far.
So my ham radio is still on track going into 2010, and what about yours? Have you tried out the top and bottom loaded vertical dipole as yet? Maybe you are someone who prefers the multi band version antennas. That is not for me. I am not into any compromised performance on all bands. I want perfect performance on each band, and I am blessed [thank God] with space enough to erect single band vertical dipoles, that I can tune up to their max. Yes it calls for more coax cable, but when you can buy 1000-feet for less than 99 bucks off eBay, that is not a problem. Down here real antenna wire can be a problem. Electrical installation wire will stretch and construction binding wire will work but cannot take a kilowatt. Oh, I have been there so I know.
I am still trying to understand why hams here complain about not having any coax cable when so many miles of coax cable are dumped in the landfill by the local CableTv company maintenance section annually. I can't recall the last time that I used any of the brand names or cable designations that hams here seem to think are what we should only be using for our ham radio communications. Guess I need to conduct more research in this area. Coax cable seems to be the major holdup to hams coming on the air, but cooperative efforts to procure the coax cable do not seem to work here either, but I am not loosing any sleep over this one.
In my early days of ham radio coax cable cable was non existent and I resorted to TV twin lead, electrical flex wire and also telephone drop wire. These proved to be excellent performers, given the power used and the contacts made. Some hams still swear by the open and twin leads, but I do not have any antenna systems or components that would justify using that transmission feed line today. The telephone drop line and an MFJ tuner was one of the best setups I used back then. I am now opposed to the use of any tuner on any of my antennas.
Most hams use coax cable, but many of them may not use a balun at both ends to get the best performance from their antenna system. I find it to be most convenient to use an air core balun wound with a section of the coax feed line. I do not have the tuning difficulty with verticals anymore since incorporating the ugly balun into my antenna systems. According to the theory every vertical antenna needs to work into a balun, irrespectively, but some hams don't take the time nor make the effort to get tis right, the first time ... and then they say verticals don't work for them. I believe that the most used antenna in the world is a VERTICAL, but for some reason unknown to me, hams seem to go first for any other type of antenna.
[to be continued]
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