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…on an IC-7300. The little digital QRP rig is cool but I want to get back into real ham radio. Now all I have to do is figure out how to put up a decent antenna on a 37' boat.
On Edit: This will be the first brand new HF rig I ever purchased. The only other radio I ever bought new was an IC-2200H 2 meter mobile rig.
Edited by ad4mg: Spelling in title corrected.
:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:
AT-180 or AH-4 working against a backstay wire.
A ton of my friends own that rig. At least one, multiples.
My eventual plan is to put one of those or its successor, along with an IC-9700 and an optioned-out R-8600 in my main shack and connect them to my LAN. The other end of the equation is a tablet PC and Jabra Bluetooth headset. Can hang out on the patio and play radio while visiting with whom or whatever stops by. Twice it's been horses. The other night it was a pair of fox kits.
That's a lot more complicated—not to mention expensive—than it seems because although I do already have an AH-4, using the backstay means I'd have to cut it and install two insulators and that requires a crane to hold up the mast during the process and that requires that my boat be hauled out of the water on a travel lift and that requires at least $1000. Besides, I'll be installing this on Ella's boat, which is a 37' trawler, which is a power boat, which means no backstay.Quote:
Originally Posted by N8YX
I talked to two people who own them and they had nothing but praise for it. That, along with the reasonable price ($999 at GigaParts), is why I decided to go for that particular model.Quote:
A ton of my friends own that rig. At least one, multiples.
102" whip and a proper loading coil and that set up (+AH-4) should tune up on any band 80-10.
160 isn't my forte. While I did once build a dipole that loaded up perfectly on it, height was an issue and it basically kept the worms warm.
Bay boiled mackerel anyone?
I was figuring an ~35' end-fed random wire run up over the radar mast.Quote:
Originally Posted by KG4CGC
Yeah, it's hard to get the recommended quarter wave over the ground on 160m. Erecting two 131' towers is a lot more than I'd want to deal with.Quote:
160 isn't my forte. While I did once build a dipole that loaded up perfectly on it, height was an issue and it basically kept the worms warm.
Bay boiled mackerel anyone?
Once, on the advice of a long-time ham I knew, I made a 160m vertical out of a 4' section of that green fiberglass camo netting support tubing close wound with #22 magnet wire over the entire length. It wasn’t usable (SWR was way up there) until I added a capacitance cap made out of 1/4" copper tubing, then it sort of worked, but only for use on a local 160m net.
Does her boat have a vertical mast? Yardarm w/ insulated wires (I'd use one on each side of the mast to lower the Q) or if the mast is metallic, look into a shunt feed arrangement.Quote:
Originally Posted by K6BSO
It does have a ~10 foot radar mast with a fiberglass dome on it, although it's up on the bridge deck which puts the top up at least 20 feet above the waterline. I've decided that I'm going to try running an end-fed wire from the Ah-4 over the top of the dome. Not the best of all possible solutions, but it should work. Here's a picture of it:Quote:
Originally Posted by N8YX
https://i.imgur.com/XvmXfSm.png
Just to clear things up: although the boat is in good mechanical shape and it is capable of going places, Ella prefers to think of it as her home and only moves it every few years when it's due for a maintenance haul-out. That's why I'm able to use the radar mast as an antenna support. When we want to have fun out on the water, we use my sailboat. Less disruption of our life and, with its sails and little 14hp diesel, it's almost free to operate.
Can you put one of these on the mast?
https://www.tarheelantennas.com/model_100a_hp
Not easily.Quote:
Originally Posted by N8YX