A is for Amateur Radio

I should start out that this is the kick off post for the April A to Z blogging challenge.  I guess A is for Amateur Radio.

Well, for projects Amateur Radio definitely can be a source for many projects, and some of my most popular blog posts have to do with my radio projects.

Here is my current ham shack.  For those that are unfamiliar with what that is, it is the location where my amatuer radios (ham radios) are located.  It is in my basement along one wall.  Currently my HF(high frequency) station is not working as I have some trouble with my antenna that I need to trouble shoot.  My HF radio is the Yaesu FT-450 (it is the big one on the bottom). On top of that is a borrowed IC-28 and in front of that is my handheld FT-530.  The computer is a Pentium D I think, it was given to me and I installed Linux onto it.  I plan on using it for digital communications when my HF station is on the air. 

This hobby is very vast in breadth and scope of interest. If you like to build electronic circuits, or antennas, work with computers, talk with people all over the world, communicate from a vehicle or in times of emergency it is all covered.

I have some online resources that I use when I am looking for stuff.


When I need to find a repeater I look at the Repeaterbook.com site.  It used to be called NWHam but was renamed a little while ago.  


Here are a few major repositories of information

http://www.ac6v.com/
http://www.qsl.net/w2vtm/hamactivities.html

If you are interested in mobile operation (operating from a vehicle) the go to guy online is K0BG at his website.

EHam is the best place for finding reviews for equipment.

Now probably one of the most valuable assets of any hobby is that the community that forms around it.

One of the biggest online ham communities is called QRZ and a lot of hams put up profiles there.  My profile can be looked up on the site with my callsign VA6KAZ. 

Along with the online community there plenty of local clubs around the world.  Some of the clubs that exist in my area are:
FARS
This is the Foothils Amateur Radio Association and they operate the main repeater network for Southern Alberta.  They are a great group of guys and very knowledgeable about the hobby.

CARA
This is the Calgary Amateur Radio Association and operate a large DX contest station and some repeaters in the area

Mercury Alberta
The Mercury group is only a few years old and is comprised of a bunch of LDS radio operators that are concerned with EMCOMM.

SARA
This is Southern Alberata Repeater Association operates the provincial repeater link network.  They have a few key repeaters that are the backbone that link into other groups repeaters when connected like the FARS group above.

Well I hope that you have enjoyed my brief look at Amateur radio.  If you like what you have read, please subscribe to the blog, or follow me on twitter at @bjshideler. 

In the traditional amateur radio closing.
73s

Titan DX Antenna Install

I have recently received my Titan DX antenna from GAP Antenna.  As I was intending to mount it on a tripod mount on top of the roof of the house I also got the guy kit.  One note on the guy kit is that there are no anchors included with it.  As I am not experienced with HF antennas it took me a bit to figure out how to put the antenna together, and from everyone that I read online it does take a long time to assemble.  So the first day I got it put together, and mounted on the tripod.  On the second day I got the counterpoise installed and connected the end for the coax and attached the feed line. 

They don't mention anywhere in their documentation what the coax was and it is a house brand with no labels, so I called them and inquired.  GAP uses a RG-8X equivalent.  I needed this information because they had a male UHF (PL-259) to go on the antenna, and I had a connector for a male 259 to go on the feed line coax.  Also in my tool box I have a handful of male N connectors.  So I went down to MRO Electronics in Calgary and got a female N connector to go on the coax.  For those that are not as up to speed on coax a RG-8 and RG-8X are not similar at all.

As I assembled the antenna with the self tapping screws provided, I understand why several people have recommended changing the screws out for machine screws with lock nuts.  As Winter was nearing in Calgary and I did not have many days without snow on the roof I needed this to get done and put that off to a future day.

I was unable to get the grounding installed for the antenna, so that will be a spring project before the lightning comes.  Other than that I just need to poke a hole into the house, do some testing and get on the air. 

Below is some pictures of the build.

 The middle section where the coax attaches to the antenna.

Looking from the "top" down the length of the antenna.

A closer look at the center section

The base where the counterpoise will mount

The top covered with a dust cap and a capacitor just inside.