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Thread: Something out of nothing

  1. 04-06-2011, 09:19 PM #1
    NQ6U
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    Something out of nothing

    Well, almost nothing. I wanted to take part in a club net on a 70cm repeater but the only rig I have for that band is a VX-2 HT, which only puts out 375mW. I couldn't hit the repeater from my QTH using the whip antenna but I don't have much money to spend on ham gear these days so I hunted around to find something I could build with what I had on hand. The result is this oddball combo of a quad and a yagi, called a Quagi, which I built with about 10 feet of #14 copper wire, a 4-foot hardwood dowel and some duct tape. Damned if the thing doesn't work!

    All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
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  2. 04-06-2011, 09:21 PM #2
    KG4CGC
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    HELL YEAH BRO! FBOM hihi
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  3. 04-06-2011, 09:44 PM #3
    NQ6U
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    Quote Originally Posted by KG4CGC View Post
    HELL YEAH BRO! FBOM hihi
    RR.

    Went up on a hill back of the place and managed to hit a repeater on Palomar Mountain, about fifty miles north. Not bad for a bit over one-third of a watt.
    All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
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  4. 04-06-2011, 10:43 PM #4
    W5GA
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    Good job!
    When the government's boot is on your throat, whether it is a left boot or a right boot is of no consequence. — GARY LLOYD

    The nation we live in is the nation we have built by design, each successive generation raising the wall of tyranny a little higher. - Chris Griffin
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  5. 04-06-2011, 10:56 PM #5
    WØTKX
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    'Tis all about gain, and it's easy to get with shorter wavelengths.

    Oh, and FB OM HI HI.
    "Where would we be without the agitators of the world to attach the electrodes
    of knowledge to the nipples of ignorance?" ~ Professor "Dick" Soloman


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  6. 04-07-2011, 07:35 AM #6
    KC2UGV
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    RIGHT ON!!!!

    I don't buy antennas, unless they are for mobiling (It's easier to buy the whip + ferrule as one piece). For home use: Homebrew all the way :)
    Big Giant Meteor 2020 - We need to make Earth Great Again

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  7. 04-07-2011, 08:42 AM #7
    WV6Z
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    Quote Originally Posted by KJ6BSO View Post
    Well, almost nothing. I wanted to take part in a club net on a 70cm repeater but the only rig I have for that band is a VX-2 HT, which only puts out 375mW. I couldn't hit the repeater from my QTH using the whip antenna but I don't have much money to spend on ham gear these days so I hunted around to find something I could build with what I had on hand. The result is this oddball combo of a quad and a yagi, called a Quagi, which I built with about 10 feet of #14 copper wire, a 4-foot hardwood dowel and some duct tape. Damned if the thing doesn't work!

    Pure awesomeness!!!
    KD8EFQ ~ "With MFJ one might as well stand outside during the worst possible calamity and wair for death."
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  8. 04-07-2011, 08:47 AM #8
    N8YX
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    Necessity being the mother(fscker) of invention, I've thrown together more than a few contraptions like that over the years. Yours is the first I've seen with a loop as driven and reflector elements; most use one for the reflector only.

    Nice work!
    "Everyone wants to be an AM Gangsta until it's time to start doing AM Gangsta shit."
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  9. 04-07-2011, 08:52 AM #9
    WV6Z
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    I have a beautiful PVC and welding rod cubical quad that Charles and Brad picked up for me in Charlotte I think it was, it worked awesomely well with my VX2R too...... I do well with wire....... hidden in the trees, than I do with anything else. Charles and I did some dual band copper tubing j-poles once...... as I recall we ended up with like 2 that worked out of 5 and the 3 that didn't work were a total FAIL........ they didn't work ANYWHERE and for no apparent reason.
    KD8EFQ ~ "With MFJ one might as well stand outside during the worst possible calamity and wair for death."
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  10. 04-07-2011, 10:00 AM #10
    WØTKX
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    I started a fad with a bunch of newbies by suspending a twin lead j-pole up in a tree.

    Some of 'em bought SWR meters, antenna analyzers (for those who had the money), soldering irons, twin lead, coax, and the PL-259 plugs. A lot was learned, but we had a few frustrated dropouts who had their buddies build them. We built dipoles and "coat hanger" verticals too. I politely refused to build any, and deflected by insisting on the learning experience.

    Later, I stuffed that twin lead J-pole in a PVC pipe for mast mounting.
    Last edited by WØTKX; 04-07-2011 at 10:09 AM.
    "Where would we be without the agitators of the world to attach the electrodes
    of knowledge to the nipples of ignorance?" ~ Professor "Dick" Soloman


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