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We moved in 2013 and I had not set up any kind of station at the new place since. Before the 2016 CQ WW SSB Contest, I decided to try to make some contacts during the contest so I needed to set up a station with some kind of antenna. I dug the TS50 out of the dust bin and used it. I resurrected 2 20M mobile whips, stuck them up on a pole in a dipole configuration and was on the air. As you can see in the log, I did make some interesting contacts on Sunday afternoon. I did not realize that TM4L was in France until I looked up the call after I shutdown. Nice one, considering there were no signals to be heard on Friday night at the beginning of the contest. Nice restart to a hobby I have enjoyed since 1965.

Al VE3GAM

CY9M July 26 – Aug 1, 2012

DXpedition to St Paul Island is slated for July 26-Aug 1 this year, Here is a link to their website for all of the information about this venture.

CY9M Team

Bon voyage guys!

CQWW SSB Contest: 0000Z October 29 through 2359Z October 30 2011
CQWW CW Contest: 0000Z November 26 through 2359Z November 27 2011
Contest Rules

Are you participating this year? Sounds like 10m might be a major playground this year, I have seen some major reports of activity on that band lately.

72, Al

The VE3STR tower was taken down, re-zinced and repainted and then ona beautiful morning in early October was raised again, courtesy of Yarmouth Cranes. For the full story and pictures, check out the article at the club site web site.

73, Al

Bob Rice VE3HKY has produced another beautiful antenna, this time it is called the 7-Band Portable Dipole Antenna. I attended the London Amateur Radio Club meeting last night and he gave a talk on his new antenna. His previous 7-Band Semi-Vertical Antenna is documented at his site. His new portable dipole seems to compare nicely with the W3FF Buddipole. Contact Bob at bobrice2@sympatico.ca for more information, he has a DVD which shows him constructing one of the antennas. Let me know if you build one!

73, Al

p.s. link to video on how to build the antenna

Here’s an interesting antenna that I would like to try out some day, made from 300 ohm twin-lead.

73, Al

Dave Marling VE1VQ has an interesting article online about balanced feed line. Looks fairly easy to make using old plastic clothes hangers. Thanks Dave for posting this interesting article.

73, Al

One of the simplest antennas you can use to get on the air with is the dipole. Here is an article which shows you the simplicity of the antenna and outlines how you can put one up and use it on any frequency.

73, Al

One of the major resources on the web for the EFHW antenna is AA5TB’s site. I have included many links to articles on his site but also have some others. If you are interested in the EFHW antenna, check them out.

Links

• AA5TB – introduction
• AA5TB – How To Make It Work
• AA5TB – QRP Coupler 30m-17m
• AA5TB – Mini Coupler 40m-17m
• AA5TB – QRO 20m-40m Coupler
• M5FRA – 3-Band Portable Wire Antenna
• M5FRA – 20m Vertical Half Wave Antenna
• WA5BDU – The End Fed Half Wave Antenna
• KC2UHB Diana Eng – Makezine – How to Make a Multi-Band EFHW Antenna
• N0LX – EFHW Antenna and Coupling Unit
• KI6SN – Trail Friendly Antenna and Coupling Unit

73, Al

Bill N4QA uses the Gutter And DownSpout on his house as an Antenna, with a tuner mounted at ground level with coax entering the house at the base of the downspout.

73, Al

Jake, N0LX, has some nice antennas on display at his site. One of the more interesting ideas he writes about on his site is the idea of using a spiral of wire or ribbon as a counterpoise to a vertical. No room for radials, then perhaps this will work for you. Check out his article on a spiral counterpoise for a vertical antenna.

73, Al

Here is a link to a homebrew 20M vertical by W4INF, easy enough that an 8 year old can do it. Vertical wire and radials are all 16.5′ long.

Note: the link to the original article is no longer available, this is a link to a copy of the original web page that I created.

73, Al