Amateur radio antennas, circuits, techniques and related topics. By Peter Parker VK3YE/AK3YE.
Newer material appears at https://vk3ye.com and https://youtube.com/vk3ye .
Want a quick video to show someone whose expressed an interest in amateur radio? Here's one from the ARRL.
PS: Want to read about antennas? Consider this selection of antenna books. They are affiliate links meaning that I receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you decide to purchase.
PS: I've now written six books on various aspects of amateur radio. Whether you experiment with antennas, enjoy QRP or are starting out in radio there's a book for you. Find out more here.
No apologies for more on 28 MHz as the band's been open a lot lately. While sporadic-E mainly happens in the summer there is also a smaller burst in winter. So northern hemisphere folk can join in the fun.
This video gives some tips on how you can find out when the band is open to avoid missing out on the action.
PS: Heard about my new book? It's the Australian Ham Radio Handbook. It's now available both as an ebook and paperback. Find out more here!
Something that's hit amateur radio antenna experimentation by storm in the last 6 months or so is the availability of very small and very cheap vector network analysers. Previously considered expensive test equipment, they are now within reach of (and can be put in) every pocket.
They are a bit clunky to use and their user interface isn't great (especially if you have fat fingers). And they won't be as accurate as expensive gear. However they open up a world of measurement that amateurs with a non-professional electronics background did not necessarily have.
Use as an antenna analyser is an example application. You could also try connecting anything that exhibits varying reactance across different frequencies, for instance coil and capacitor combinations.
Anyway if you've just got one or are about to take the plunge then these video resources could be handy.
PS: I've now written six books on various aspects of amateur radio. Whether you experiment with antennas, enjoy QRP or are starting out in radio there's a book for you. Find out more here.
The rest of Australia was sweltering but yesterday was nice weather here. So I went for a 5km walk along the beach, taking 10 metres with me. The video shows what I worked during the good conditions.
PS: Find hints and tips for working DX in Minimum QRP. It's the top-selling manual on the equipment, antennas, operating and strategy of successful QRP operating. And its techniques work for 100 watts as well. It's available for under $US 5 each in electronic form. Or you can get a paperback version. Visit VK3YE Radio Books to find out more.
About 8 years ago, before the FT8 mode was invented, I built a simple receiving converter. When used with a laptop computer with SDR software it could receive signals on segments of the 80 and 40 metre amateur bands.
It was very crude. For example there was no image rejection. Therefore signals on the lower side of the centre frequency would also appear above (with inverted sideband) and vice versa. Anyway yesterday I got it out to see how it would work on FT8. It did! More in this video!
PS: Find hints and tips for working DX in Minimum QRP. It's the top-selling manual on the equipment, antennas, operating and strategy of successful QRP operating. And its techniques work for 100 watts as well. It's available for under $US 5 each in electronic form. Or you can get a paperback version. Visit VK3YE Radio Books to find out more.
On Sunday I went to a Maker Faire not far from here. This video is some of the highlights. Yes, there are still lots of people doing things with electronics!
PS: Heard about my new book? It's the Australian Ham Radio Handbook. It's now available both as an ebook and paperback. Find out more here!
Those who tinker often like to squeeze the best performance out of their creation. It might be accelaration or fuel economy from their vehicles, output power from a linear amplifier or gain from an antenna.
Something else in this category is pulling range with a variable crystal oscillator (VXO). Normally they can only be shifted by a few kilohertz. However there's ways, from keeping capacitances down, adding series inductance to using parallel crystals, that extend pulling range. The cnallenge in this case is to maximise pulling range while keeping your signal acceptably stable. And pulling above a crystal's marked frequency can be harder than pulling below it.
This video is of a VXO experiment. I use 7.023 MHz crystals, a frequency commonly supplied with the cheap 'Pixie' QRP transceiver kits.
Have you ever built a VXO? What pulling range did you get? Please let me know in the comments below.
PS: Find hints and tips for working DX in Minimum QRP. It's the top-selling manual on the equipment, antennas, operating and strategy of successful QRP operating. And its techniques work for 100 watts as well. It's available for under $US 5 each in electronic form. Or you can get a paperback version. Visit VK3YE Radio Books to find out more.
This time I'm at home using about the most modest antenna you can get - a vertical dipole for 50 MHz (which doubles as an extended double zepp on 2m). I try various modes on 6m with 5w from an FT817. Very happy with the results.
And for more on the antenna enjoy this video.
PS: I've now written six books on various aspects of amateur radio. Whether you experiment with antennas, enjoy QRP or are starting out in radio there's a book for you. Find out more here.
Some weekend listening to 27 MHz CB & 28 MHz amateur activity. Signals were heard from up to about 1500km distant. I was using a small Digitech HF receiver capable of SSB reception.
PS: Heard about my new book? It's the Australian Ham Radio Handbook. It's now available both as an ebook and paperback. Find out more here!
Northern hemisphere readers are going into winter while us down here are entering summer. Which brings more daylight to be out and about plus enhanced sporadic-E propagation. Yesterday was a great example with sporadic E all the way up to 144 MHz.
Video shows me out and about on 28 MHz SSB working various stations up to approx 1500km distance.
PS: Want to learn about portable antennas? You'll find many ideas and projects in the top-selling Hand-carried QRP antennas.
