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Old 04-16-2016, 08:54 PM   #41
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Space to carry all the antennas can be pretty hard to come by. Therefore I've gone pretty simple, I carry 2 Par End Fedz, a 20 meter and a 40 meter. To support the far end I carry 2 telescoping fiberglass poles 19' and 33', the kind you whirlly things attached to. I carry 3 or 4 short metal fence posts. How this works is I drive a fence post into the ground, then attach the far end of ENDFedz antenna to pole Use bungie cords to hole the fiberglass pole in place. That the support for one end, the other with the match box goes the back of my truck. I have a small piece of cord attached to the match box and the goes over the handle of the raised rear canopy window. I operate from the tailgate. A 50 amp hour battery sitting near the back and charged with 65 Watt solar panel. The radio is a Yaesu 857D operating at 100W. I also for the times the ground is really hard or I want to operate 10m I have a buddie pole dipole.
For those that think I might be under powered with a 50ah battery and a 65W solar panel, about 5 years ago with a number of operators we worked for whole 24 hours without a power problem.
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Old 04-22-2016, 06:24 PM   #42
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Name: Gordon
Trailer: 2015 Scamp (16 Std Layout 4) with '15 Toyota Sienna LE Tug
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Originally Posted by GregHine View Post
Does the pooch work CW with his paws, since he'd no doubt be unintelligible on SSB?
Turns out that his CW is just as unintelligible
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Old 05-22-2016, 09:46 AM   #43
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Former V31JU

Hmmm,
Sometimes I regret not converting my Belize ticket to a U.S. General class when we returned to the States full time in 2012.

Alas with our Scamping and other past times all I need is another past time to spend $$$ one LOL

Certainly no Hurricane nets to work with here in Mich. either

73s
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Old 09-27-2017, 09:36 PM   #44
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Name: Steve
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What did not work well.

What I got for a portable HF antenna was a High Sierra screwdriver plus an optional tripod with metal screen extensions on the legs. The screens were supposed to couple to the earth. It was reasonably convenient but never seemed to work well, even with extra radial wires.

I do have a recommendation for running coax out of the trailer neatly: I got a water tank filler inlet the same as what is standard on Scamps. I installed it under the front dinette table, upside-down. Since it is upside down, it doesn't introduce water to the trailer. It has a lid that latches down when not in use so you don't get insects coming in. When I run my coax out, I stuff a crumpled up paper towel into the tube from the inside to keep bugs out.
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Old 10-01-2017, 10:56 AM   #45
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ham radio ant

Quote:
Originally Posted by gordon2 View Post
CQ CQ... This is a question for amateur radio operators with fiberglass trailers. I have seen a few of you on this forum, but to the rest of you, this might sound like Greek because of the “ham speak.”

I hope to operate portable 40-2 meters from a Scamp 16 and I am looking at antenna options. I have poked around on a few other web sites for suggestions but found most discussions were centered on larger motor homes. Of course, fiberglass trailers present some unique issues for HF operation.

I have not been on the air for about 15 years until this summer. At home, I just put up a half size G5RV dipole (which, despite its name, will not work with RVs We all know the G5RV is a compromise antenna with serious shortcomings, but I have been quite happy with it, making a number of DX contacts. With the auto-tuner, it’s a simple matter to work all bands (40-10), and similar simplicity is what I am aiming for in the Scamp.

No mobile operation is contemplated, only stationary. I was thinking of using the 2-inch hitch (bike rack) receiver on the back of the camper to mount a mast. I do not want a setup that requires guy wires. Instead, I was thinking that a bracket on the spare tire carrier would be sufficient for a small HF antenna in normal weather. I will be using an Icom IC-7200 (100 watts max) and maybe the companion LDG Auto tuner.

I considered mounting a screwdriver antenna above the camper on the mast for some reduction in RF exposure but as I understand it, the screwdriver would then need ground radials or a counterpoise. I doubt the body and frame of the scamp would be effective for that, and I do not want to bother with running wires every time I deploy.

I thought maybe I would forget about the mast and use a TW antenna on the ground, but in small campsites it might not be a good fit, and it could become an attractive nuisance at a campground. It is also quite expensive.

Next on my radar was the Buddiepole. This one seems like it would be a good solution on a hitch receiver mounted mast up about eleven feet or more. But the Buddipole requires changing taps for each band, which I do quite often. If the antenna was at 11 feet, I would not be able to reach it to change the taps. Looks like it performs very well if you spend the time to tweak it however, one reviewer said, “Setting it up takes time to do it right” and another said, “is very difficult to tune.” I do like that it can cover all bands.. even 2 meters. Still I wonder if there is something easier to use so now I am leaning back in the direction of a screwdriver with radials, or maybe a BuddieStick. Seems its going to be a bit of a pain to set up anything that works reasonably well.

Maybe I should forgo 40 meters and just use a 20-meter dipole, inverted V style with the center on the top of the mast. Then again, it seems like there are often too many trees in the way to do that.

So I am open to suggestions. The Shelby (NC) hamfest is this weekend so I will be looking for an antenna there at a fair price.

My wants and needs for this portable antenna are:

• 20 / 15 /10 meters at the minimum (40 and 6 would be nice too)
• Less than 10 minutes to set up.
• Limits exposure to RF both to operator in the dinette and any curious passerbyers.
• Reasonably compact and lightweight



PS, I am also out of the loop (so to speak) when it comes to logging. Any suggestions for logging software that is both eQSL and LOTW compatible, and is a good general purpose logger but at least OK for contests. I am leaning toward DXLabs suite of software. However, I used Winlog32 in the past so the learning curve would be less with it.
I made a 40mtr ant one time hung it out my window worked all bands but 80 with it. worked the world on 15 with it all f/b k0wtz
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Old 10-01-2017, 11:23 AM   #46
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Name: JD
Trailer: Scamp 16 Modified (BIGLY)
Florida
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Look at TN07.com for a fiberglass telescoping antenna system.
I too am getting back into ham radio after a very long absence.
I went and took the extra class test a week ago at the Pensacola hamfest (passed!). Many years ago I had the advanced class and decided I would upgrade so I wouldn't have to remember as many band edges.
I drug out may silent key father in law's rig a Yaesu FT757 GXII which has receiver problems and needs to be repaired.
Friday I bought two Icom IC7000 at an estate sale and have two more rigs to fix now.
I have picked up some verticals an AVQ12 and a sometheror other 77 seven band 40- 10 meter vertical dipole.
Another antenna I picked up is a telescoping aluminum 40' base loaded antenna which is very similar to TN07's fiberglass unit.
The TN07 pulld out like one of those collapseable fishing rods that self stores in an 2" or so rod 5' long.
Just pull out the top until it pulls out the next one etc until they are all out.
TN07 also has several mounts including a hitch mount and also one that you can just drive over to hold it down.
I met the owner/designer and he seems to be very knowledgeable and friendly so give him a call.
The fiberglass is MUCH lighter than the aluminum vertical I have and it friction locks instead of using two hands full of worm clamps
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Old 10-01-2017, 11:31 AM   #47
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Name: bob
Trailer: Was A-Liner now 13f Scamp
Missouri
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dipole

my 40m dipole cost all of 5bux!!

kiss principle works every time I don't care what things look like just if they work. you get into switches coils all that stuff you can expect failure everytime but I have only been at this game since 1958!
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Old 10-01-2017, 11:45 AM   #48
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Name: JD
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Originally Posted by k0wtz View Post
my 40m dipole cost all of 5bux!!

kiss principle works every time I don't care what things look like just if they work. you get into switches coils all that stuff you can expect failure everytime but I have only been at this game since 1958!
So true!
A good tuner and you can just toss a wire into a tree and get a signal out.
The tuner helps keep the finals cooler and from burning a hole in your finger from the SWR on a piece of metal.
Now all I need is a rig that works.
I have some parts on order and hopefully I can remember how to do electronic repair work.
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Old 10-01-2017, 01:12 PM   #49
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Questions for you hams (I guess I shouldn't call you "hammers," or I might get nailed ). What do you like the most about your hobby? Is it a social thing for you, like being on a forum but with audio in lieu of print? Or is a voyeuristic thing, listening in on others' conversations? Or the fun of putting together and using an electronics setup? Or something else?

Oh, and one more: will a SW radio with SSB reception pick up any of the ham stuff?

I held off quite a while from posting my questions, to give Gordon time to get his answers on the hardware and stuff.
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Old 10-01-2017, 01:36 PM   #50
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Name: alan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Magee View Post
...
Oh, and one more: will a SW radio with SSB reception pick up any of the ham stuff?
...
For short wave look at 160 thru 10 meters:

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regul...11%20Color.pdf

Alan,,, n4lbl
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Old 10-01-2017, 02:24 PM   #51
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Originally Posted by Mike Magee View Post
Questions for you hams (I guess I shouldn't call you "hammers," or I might get nailed ). What do you like the most about your hobby? Is it a social thing for you, like being on a forum but with audio in lieu of print? Or is a voyeuristic thing, listening in on others' conversations? Or the fun of putting together and using an electronics setup? Or something else?

Oh, and one more: will a SW radio with SSB reception pick up any of the ham stuff?

I held off quite a while from posting my questions, to give Gordon time to get his answers on the hardware and stuff.
The most important part of amateur radio is that - it's a hobby. I'm a relative short timercompared to many. Why did I decide to get a license at age 66? Primarily for emergency communications and public service as a volunteer. But, in 3 1/2 years since passing the test, I have learned that there are so many other aspects to the hobby:
1) Morse code is not dead. It is still actively used by many and sometimes you can get a message out when voice fails.
2) Many hams like to make long distance contacts and participate in contests. That's not my bag but I have talked to Lithuania and Estonia from the Seattle area.
3) You can send email and other digital messages radio-to-radio or to another radio connected to the internet. This is valuable for emergency communications and one of the methods being used by volunteers in Puerto Rico to get messages out.
4) You can set up a big shack or you can operate portable, which gets to the core topic of this thread. I have a multi-band radio set up in my Campster with an antenna that tunes to my radio for the different frequencies. (Yaesu FT897 and ATAS120A)

The radio runs off the battery, which charged by a solar panel. I drilled a whole in the fiberglass and installed a bulkhead connector for the antenna. I can mount the antenna on the tongue of the trailer but these fiberglass trailers (and stick built for that matter) do not have much metal for ground plane, so it works better to place the antenna on the pickup.
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Old 10-01-2017, 02:50 PM   #52
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Name: JD
Trailer: Scamp 16 Modified (BIGLY)
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I got my licenses about 55 years age and for a number of years Iwas hot ans heavy with the local group in Birmingham and DX.
I spent some time having to do the radio thing and dropped it until my father-in-law got his Novice license back in 1981.
Now I am interested in emergency communications and ARES and working with the Red Cross. I haven't actually gotten back into it as above I have to fix just about everything I have and have purchased!
My intent is to set up the Scamp 16' as a portable station (capability, not interfering with the XYL's enjoyment and traveling) for our "bug out" trailer to escape Hurricanes here in Navarre FL.
The frame might serve as a ground plane on 20 - 10 meters and a plate under a tire (especially if you wet the ground out) might serve for ground and help with a long wire and tuner.
Of course VHF is not really a problem except for that ground plane thing.
Stick on copper radials could be used on the roof if desired.
Here is a link to a source for the copper strips:
https://www.amazon.com/inch-yds-Copp.../dp/B00CBPK0FW
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Old 10-01-2017, 03:02 PM   #53
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Originally Posted by redbarron55 View Post
I got my licenses about 55 years age and for a number of years Iwas hot ans heavy with the local group in Birmingham and DX.
I spent some time having to do the radio thing and dropped it until my father-in-law got his Novice license back in 1981.
Now I am interested in emergency communications and ARES and working with the Red Cross. I haven't actually gotten back into it as above I have to fix just about everything I have and have purchased!
My intent is to set up the Scamp 16' as a portable station (capability, not interfering with the XYL's enjoyment and traveling) for our "bug out" trailer to escape Hurricanes here in Navarre FL.
The frame might serve as a ground plane on 20 - 10 meters and a plate under a tire (especially if you wet the ground out) might serve for ground and help with a long wire and tuner.
Of course VHF is not really a problem except for that ground plane thing.
Stick on copper radials could be used on the roof if desired.
Here is a link to a source for the copper strips:
https://www.amazon.com/inch-yds-Copp.../dp/B00CBPK0FW
I had a VHF/UHF in our class A but bought the Campster for exactly the same reasons as you (except we seldom get a hurricane in Seattle). We ended up selling the A, so we are dedicated fiberglass again.

Interestingly, I could tune 20 and 40 on the tongue but not 10. I reached the Oregon coast on 20 when I was setting it up. I needed the roof of the truck to tune 10.

When I'm home, I have a magnetic base for the truck that just pop onto the steel carport roof. Lots of ground plane there.
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Old 10-01-2017, 03:04 PM   #54
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Name: bob
Trailer: Was A-Liner now 13f Scamp
Missouri
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ham radio

I will not go so far to say ham radio is dead but with the advent of no coders it is a long way from where it used to be but if we can keep some interest and the radio manufactures can stay in business I say go for it.

my interests have gone from fone and extremely high power such as 2 4-1000s with 6900 vs on the plates down to 1/2 watt weird isn't it. I have ran 1kw mobile with a screwdriver ant to almost nothing.

I pass by Lew Gordons tower and beam set ups up to an 80m beam all the time passing through Hannibal, Mo it is now all falling down it is an immense undertaking just to win a trophy but whatever floats your boat in ham radio!

With all this the internet is amazing very little invested and you can conversve all around the world. How is ham radio supposed to compete with that I don't really know!
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Old 10-01-2017, 05:35 PM   #55
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Name: JD
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I have a similar feeling about ham radio, but I decided to get back into it with the three hurricanes this year and the damage in Puerto Rico.
The ARRL and Red Cross sent 50 volunteers for three weeks since the infrastructure for the modern digital (and analog fro that matter) was ans is destroyed.
There are a lot of hams relaying information to and from PR and h=this may well continue for much longer than that 3 weeks.
I thought I would get back in , dust off the old equipment ( and repair it as well) to see if I can help out this time and be ready for the next.
You are right the new cell phones and internet makes communications and exchange of almost all data like shooting fish in a barrel.
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Old 10-01-2017, 08:58 PM   #56
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Name: bob
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Missouri
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rigs

How about a heatkit sb301 rx and a sb401tx built by me in 1969. I still have them I bet the capacitors are all shot by now but they look nice on my shelf!
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Old 10-06-2017, 10:11 AM   #57
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Name: Mark
Trailer: In the market
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HI! KG5EIR here, Have you looked into D-Star, or a raspberry-pi mobile hotspot? Check it out on one of the million youtube channels. You can find tons of info there.
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Old 12-20-2017, 05:39 PM   #58
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Winter Field Day is coming to the air waves soon

Just a reminder that Winder Field Day (WFD) is the last full week-end in January. There's web site at https://www.winterfieldday.com/
This would be a good time to check out your portable, or mobile operations.
I hope to be on the air from someplace in the SW.
de AK7EE.

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Old 12-20-2017, 06:09 PM   #59
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My overlanding group uses 2 meter for trail comms, but I'd be the first to admit it's not really a hobby for me.

KD0TED.
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Old 12-20-2017, 06:15 PM   #60
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Name: bob
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many articles around on building your own screwdriver antenna I use on for cw all the time


bob k0wtz
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