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W3WN
01-13-2013, 11:19 PM
With the last predicted day of the January Thaw on us, and with thanks for the extra set of hands to Bill W3WH, this morning the HF2V went back up – first time it’s been in the air since we moved out of the previous house a good many years ago.

It’s no longer a pure vertical, however. It’s now the vertical part of my inverted “L” antenna. As some of you fellow barflys here on the Island may recall, my “L” has been more of an end-fed “V” the last 15 months, since the neighbor (who has been kind enough to let me use his tree as a sky hook) had to trim major branches off the tree, which cost the antenna it’s major support limb.

…no, for those wondering, moving the wire to make it an “L” again was not an option. It would have been way to close to the HF6V…

Like the HF6V, the vertical is mounted on my chain-link fence. Since it’s base (“A”) tube and insulator went missing sometime in the past, those were replaced with the “B” tube from Bill’s HF6V (which was in pieces and merely good for salvage, due to weather and an unknown helper who destroyed the caps when it was taken down). Just the right height to put the feed point above the top of the fence; good to know, since I have to do the same on the HF6). As was to be expected, the 80 & 40 coils are now high and out of reach, and will require a step ladder for adjustments; fortunately not a major issue, thanks to the HF6 to cover those bands.

The inverted “L” ‘s wire is now attached to the HF2 at the top section clamp. As was to be expected, the weight of that wire will pull the HF2 towards it, so a guy wire (insulated) is also attached at that same point to hold the antenna vertical, more or less.

In the process of assembly & antenna mounting, the antenna position shifted about 5 feet to take up excess slack on the wire. So I need to move the radials and add some more.

The “L” wire was approximately 130 feet; not long enough, really, but the best I can do on the vacant lot behind the house that I’m using (again, with permission). Before adding the HF2, I had trouble loading it without a W2AU 4:1 balun. I still need that balun to load the antenna on 160, so more work will need to be done on the antenna come spring weather.

We tried one of the TBR-160 add-ons (that's the external 160 meter coil kit). Turned out to not make much of a difference (this was pre-balun), and we didn’t have much time to play with it. And it didn’t help that I had the instructions for the newer model, this was the older. It also didn’t help that the lower mounting bracket was missing. Ironically… this had originally been my coil, and had originally been mounted on this antenna, back at the old QTH. I’d sold it to Bill when I wasn’t using it, got it back from him with the remains of his ‘6; he doesn’t know what happened to that bracket either. Future plans are to experiment further with it, once I fashion a new mount.

The bottom line is that the antenna does load on 160, and does load better than the wire did before. So my hope is the additional 32 feet, plus having a true vertical (more or less) leg again, will make a difference.

So of course, the band is completely quiet most of the night. I did work a W8 in OH, so at least SOMEONE is hearing me.

Now...if anyone in the group who’s in NV, UT, or AK has some free time & 160 access on an upcoming evening to help test a vertical…

X-Rated
01-31-2013, 12:40 PM
With the last predicted day of the January Thaw on us, and with thanks for the extra set of hands to Bill W3WH, this morning the HF2V went back up – first time it’s been in the air since we moved out of the previous house a good many years ago.

It’s no longer a pure vertical, however. It’s now the vertical part of my inverted “L” antenna. As some of you fellow barflys here on the Island may recall, my “L” has been more of an end-fed “V” the last 15 months, since the neighbor (who has been kind enough to let me use his tree as a sky hook) had to trim major branches off the tree, which cost the antenna it’s major support limb.

…no, for those wondering, moving the wire to make it an “L” again was not an option. It would have been way to close to the HF6V…

Like the HF6V, the vertical is mounted on my chain-link fence. Since it’s base (“A”) tube and insulator went missing sometime in the past, those were replaced with the “B” tube from Bill’s HF6V (which was in pieces and merely good for salvage, due to weather and an unknown helper who destroyed the caps when it was taken down). Just the right height to put the feed point above the top of the fence; good to know, since I have to do the same on the HF6). As was to be expected, the 80 & 40 coils are now high and out of reach, and will require a step ladder for adjustments; fortunately not a major issue, thanks to the HF6 to cover those bands.

The inverted “L” ‘s wire is now attached to the HF2 at the top section clamp. As was to be expected, the weight of that wire will pull the HF2 towards it, so a guy wire (insulated) is also attached at that same point to hold the antenna vertical, more or less.

In the process of assembly & antenna mounting, the antenna position shifted about 5 feet to take up excess slack on the wire. So I need to move the radials and add some more.

The “L” wire was approximately 130 feet; not long enough, really, but the best I can do on the vacant lot behind the house that I’m using (again, with permission). Before adding the HF2, I had trouble loading it without a W2AU 4:1 balun. I still need that balun to load the antenna on 160, so more work will need to be done on the antenna come spring weather.

We tried one of the TBR-160 add-ons (that's the external 160 meter coil kit). Turned out to not make much of a difference (this was pre-balun), and we didn’t have much time to play with it. And it didn’t help that I had the instructions for the newer model, this was the older. It also didn’t help that the lower mounting bracket was missing. Ironically… this had originally been my coil, and had originally been mounted on this antenna, back at the old QTH. I’d sold it to Bill when I wasn’t using it, got it back from him with the remains of his ‘6; he doesn’t know what happened to that bracket either. Future plans are to experiment further with it, once I fashion a new mount.

The bottom line is that the antenna does load on 160, and does load better than the wire did before. So my hope is the additional 32 feet, plus having a true vertical (more or less) leg again, will make a difference.

So of course, the band is completely quiet most of the night. I did work a W8 in OH, so at least SOMEONE is hearing me.

Now...if anyone in the group who’s in NV, UT, or AK has some free time & 160 access on an upcoming evening to help test a vertical…

Sorry, I am not in any of those states or on 160 right now.

A friend of mine does 40M CW single band high power CQWW and does a pretty good job with a pair of HF-2V's phased for 40M using a ComTek phasing box. Lots of radials as well. He used some scrap mini coax for radials that was gold he was able to get his hands on. Miles of the stuff.

Needless to say he is not on the east coast so he is not able to win the nation with it, but he has been in the top 10 before. He likes the antenna.

W3WN
02-01-2013, 10:36 AM
The antenna is playing better, with the HF2V acting as the vertical segment. Still short compared to what the inverted "L" was a couple of years ago.

Didn't do too awful bad in the CQ 160 CW contest. Worked a few new entities, all Caribbean & South America (plus an HK1 a few nights before). Worked Utah for the WAS, so pending confirmation, that leaves me down to two. Saw some spots for a couple of NV stations but never heard them, saw spots for KL7RA but never heard him either.

What I'd like to do is get about 50 to 60 feet of aluminum mast & replace the HF2V with that. The additional vertical height ought to help.

What I will be able to do once the weather cooperates is add some more radials. That will definitely help; if I can get to about a dozen long ones, it should perform better.

What I hope to be able to do this weekend is hook the AL-84 up to the Corsair II. [That's a compact pre-MFJ Ameritron amp, for those who don't recognize the model number; Tom W8JI designed it] Should give me about 400 W out. Half the battle is being heard, once I know I can hear them. And a 6 dB gain will help on that score.