Can’t get enough antenna. One end of my lot to the other is 133ft, which is just about enough for an 80m off center fed dipole. This antenna requires a 4:1 balun. I went with an MFJ again because of price and because it had next day Amazon Prime. At some point I will upgrade to a Balun Designs I think, because they make one with a built in choke for antennas installed above buildings. 80m OCF dipoles are pretty cool because they are resonant on 80m, 40m, 20m, 17m, 12m and 10m. With the tuner I was able to make FT8 contacts on 160m, 60m, 30m and 6m also,…
Grounding and Bonding
Being in Florida I’m concerned about lightning. Someone at the club recommended the ARRL Grounding and Bonding book which I purchased and read. I followed the information in the book to create a single point ground panel outside the house using a DX Engineering utility box . Coax from the antenna comes into this box and into a lightning arrestor, then into the house where I have Delta switch which has another arrestor in it, then to the radio. I screwed an aluminum sheet to my shack table and then a copper pipe onto the back of the table with screws to attach equipment grounding terminals. The radio sits on the aluminum and is…
Second Antenna
It didn’t take long for the “more!” feeling and I quickly added 40m speaker wire to the balun and put it on a roof tripod. I did a fan dipole in an X pattern on the roof. This got me on 40m and 20m. I used the 468/f formula to measure out the speaker wire. By this point I also joined the local amateur radio club and one of the guys came over with an analyzer and I was pretty close to resonant right in the middle of the bands.
First Antenna
After doing quite a bit of research I purchased a used Icom 7410 radio. I was looking for a radio with USB connection for digital modes and the ability to do an IF tap for a panadapter since I already had a couple RTL-SDR dongles. I found a Icom 7410 on eHam classifieds that had the filters and the IF tap already installed and at a good price. At the time the 7300’s were still going for close to retail used so I figured I could use the $500+ savings for other gear. I received the radio about a week before my callsign appeared on the FCC database(it was a long week)….
Amateur Extra
I’ve always been interested in electronics. Most of my radio experience was with RC cars. I considered getting into ham radio when I was younger but the code requirement scared me away. An episode of NCIS got me interested in it again. With my EE background I was able to pass the Tech practice exam without reviewing the material. For the General and Extra I used the free iPhone “Ham Radio Exam” apps as study guides and the HamStudy.org website for practice tests. It was hit or miss whether I was going to pass the Extra and luckily I was able to pass all 3 tests in one sitting. I’m glad because…