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Post Author Forum Replies Views Posted [asc]
    Thread: Wire Antennas and Foliage
Post: RE: Wire Antennas and Foliage

Hi Colin, Contact between the wire and foliage will very likely be an issue on those bands where it occurs in the vicinity of a high impedance point. For example, I once erected a 40m EFHWA by simp...
VK3PY Towers, Masts & Transmission Lines, Antennas 4 1,885 08-07-2024, 08:31 PM
    Thread: 2023 Summer VHF UHF Field Day 14/15 January
Post: RE: 2023 Summer VHF UHF Field Day 14/15 January

Another rule that I observed being breached concerned the use of multiple call signs by operators, i.e. making contest exchanges under two or more callsigns. One such operator remarked that he "couldn...
VK3PY Contests, Field Days, Portable Operation, JOTA, SOTA 7 2,313 18-01-2023, 10:55 AM
    Thread: Mt Anakie 2m beacon... is it OK?
Post: RE: Mt Anakie 2m beacon... is it OK?

The Mt. Anakie 2m beacon is currently free-running due to having lost its GPS lock. Whenever there is a power failure, the beacon reverts to its internal reference but does not resume GPS lock when po...
VK3PY AIS, Beacons, FM & TV DX 3 24,677 14-11-2022, 12:37 PM
    Thread: 2022 John Moyle Memorial Field Day Contest (JMMFD)
Post: RE: 2022 John Moyle Memorial Field Day Contest (JM...

Thanks for following up on my question, Doug, and also to Denis for his quick response. It makes sense now. I haven't been much into digital modes, having only recently started operating FT8, which is...
VK3PY Contests, Field Days, Portable Operation, JOTA, SOTA 14 2,526 21-02-2022, 01:58 PM
    Thread: 2022 John Moyle Memorial Field Day Contest (JMMFD)
Post: RE: 2022 John Moyle Memorial Field Day Contest (JM...

I haven't participated in this contest for nearly 10 years. Having more time on my hands these days, I thought I might have a go if my stars align for that weekend. Looking at its rules, I spotted thi...
VK3PY Contests, Field Days, Portable Operation, JOTA, SOTA 14 2,526 19-02-2022, 12:20 PM
    Thread: Mains Earth/RF Earth
Post: RE: Mains Earth/RF Earth

Should one wish to isolate the RF earth from the mains earth with capacitor as Doug suggests, it's quite easy to fabricate a suitable capacitor. I've measured the capacitance of an A4 sheet of alumini...
VK3PY General Discussion 7 2,583 28-06-2019, 02:34 PM
    Thread: 2019 Winter VHF/UHF Field Day - 22nd / 23rd June
Post: RE: 2019 Winter VHF/UHF Field Day - 22nd / 23rd Ju...

My brother Bert VK3TU and I mounted an impromptu outing for this event. Given that we only had a few hours' operating time and there were just the two of us, we decided to rationalise the equipment do...
VK3PY Contests, Field Days, Portable Operation, JOTA, SOTA 7 2,449 24-06-2019, 08:48 PM
    Thread: Signal on 144.2Mhz from FM broadcaster
Post: RE: Signal on 144.2Mhz from FM broadcaster

Please report your findings after the field day so we know how it turned out. It's useful for others who may experience similar issues in the future. Chas VK3PY
VK3PY General Discussion 7 14,704 11-02-2019, 07:51 AM
    Thread: Signal on 144.2Mhz from FM broadcaster
Post: RE: Signal on 144.2Mhz from FM broadcaster

To VK4DCM: If the rogue signal really is emanating from the FM broadcast transmitter, no amount of band-pass filtering at your receiver will remove it. That's because it's a real signal. However, I...
VK3PY General Discussion 7 14,704 08-02-2019, 12:38 PM
    Thread: Impromptu 5.7GHz outing
Post: RE: Impromptu 5.7GHz outing

Thanks, Damien. No, it's not exactly a home-brew TX/RX. The rig started life as an Icom IC-202. Fed up with the rig's VXO drift and frequency uncertainty, I decided to re-purpose its main board by ...
VK3PY 1296MHz, Microwave & Opto 3 1,874 29-12-2018, 09:01 PM
    Thread: Impromptu 5.7GHz outing
Post: Impromptu 5.7GHz outing

Yesterday (Friday 28 Dec. 2018), Lou VK3ALB posted a request on the VK-VHF Reflector for a contact on 5.7GHz to test his newly-constructed transverter. By evening, he had several operators all agreein...
VK3PY 1296MHz, Microwave & Opto 3 1,874 29-12-2018, 05:36 PM
    Thread: Beacons
Post: RE: Beacons

VK5BC wrote: "With the number of VHF/UHF beacons in VK they could all easily fit into a 200Hz slot in our VHF/UHF band allocations." Yes, they could, but how would you cope if such a beacon was ins...
VK3PY 144MHz & 432MHz 24 6,389 26-06-2018, 02:04 PM
    Thread: For once, the tin foil worked...
Post: RE: For once, the tin foil worked...

Quoting from the ABC article: "A spokeswoman from Telstra said it appeared that in very few cases, some car key remotes struggled to connect with the car's receiver, so close to the powerful satell...
VK3PY Off Topic! 5 3,753 22-05-2018, 04:17 PM
    Thread: VK3 microwave activity day
Post: RE: VK3 microwave activity day

Well, I'm now out of this event, my wife having torn her Achilles tendon, leaving her pretty much incapacitated. This all happened yesterday while I had my microwave gear out on the work bench giv...
VK3PY Contests, Field Days, Portable Operation, JOTA, SOTA 2 1,574 28-03-2018, 02:33 PM
    Thread: WebSDR control
Post: RE: WebSDR control

There is also a WebSDR app for Android called Pocket RX TX, or pRxTx for short, by PA3FWM. I have it on my Galaxy tablet. It's a free download with ads, or you can pay for the full, ad-free version. ...
VK3PY Transceivers, Transmitters & Receivers 1 1,564 28-03-2018, 02:21 PM
    Thread: Bird slug reads high
Post: RE: Bird slug reads high

Lou, You wrote: "I venture inside that tube is a trimpot, possibly 25K." Nope. No trimpot. Re-visit the schematic diagram. There is a tube with an adjustable sleeve (shown as distributed capacit...
VK3PY Ancillary, Test Equipment, Components & Parts 7 2,910 24-03-2018, 07:48 PM
    Thread: Bird slug reads high
Post: RE: Bird slug reads high

Lou, Re-reading your initial posting, you mention the trimpot works OK. What trimpot??? There is no trimpot in my 50D element. Its circuit diagram is as shown in the accompanying schematic.  The te...
VK3PY Ancillary, Test Equipment, Components & Parts 7 2,910 24-03-2018, 03:05 PM
    Thread: Bird slug reads high
Post: RE: Bird slug reads high

Lou, There isn't much inside a Bird slug, as you know. I'm curious why the diode and terminating resistors were replaced. Did you repair the slug yourself? There is obviously too much coupled vo...
VK3PY Ancillary, Test Equipment, Components & Parts 7 2,910 23-03-2018, 03:23 PM
    Thread: FT817 Bias tee modification
Post: RE: FT817 Bias tee modification

I can attest to the usefulness of this mod, having done it to my FT-817. However, be aware that it only works for the VHF/UHF bands. It does not provide the PTT switching voltage on the HF bands. Dunn...
VK3PY Transceivers, Transmitters & Receivers 1 1,900 19-03-2018, 07:37 PM
    Thread: VK3 microwave activity day
Post: RE: VK3 microwave activity day

Good on ya Rob! I'll definitely be on deck for this operation. It's been way too long between drinks! Not sure about 23cm, but several microwave bands from 2.4GHz to 10GHz ought to be do-able. QTH w...
VK3PY Contests, Field Days, Portable Operation, JOTA, SOTA 2 1,574 19-03-2018, 07:23 PM
    Thread: Rain effects: E.M.E...
Post: RE: Rain effects: E.M.E...

Steve, Perhaps this might go some way towards answering your question: http://www.qsl.net/yu1aw/Misc/wetantenas.pdf I have not read it yet myself, but from a cursory glance it appears very in...
VK3PY E.M.E. 6 3,221 12-01-2018, 06:41 PM
    Thread: 2M transmission shuts computer down
Post: RE: 2M transmission shuts computer down

Wayne, You haven't given much of a description your your station layout or computer set-up, but here's a suggestion. Could it be that you have a loose connector or poorly-terminated connector on th...
VK3PY Computer related 6 2,897 11-01-2018, 04:16 PM
    Thread: 2018 Summer VHF/UHF Field Day
Post: RE: 2018 Summer VHF/UHF Field Day

VK4ADC wrote: "..... I am finding that my interest in these activities is lacking due to the low participation rates in the recent FD events....." Gee, I wonder why? Could it be because many of ...
VK3PY Contests, Field Days, Portable Operation, JOTA, SOTA 7 2,649 08-01-2018, 06:10 PM
    Thread: 2017 Summer VHF/UHF Field Day - Jan 14 and 15
Post: Re: 2017 Summer VHF/UHF Field Day - Jan 14 and 15

The VK3UHF crew will operate from the usual location 15km west of Geelong, QF21CU. All bands 50MHz to 47GHz inclusive will be available. This time we're going to concentrate on supporting Mike VK3BDL...
VK3PY Contests, Field Days, Portable Operation, JOTA, SOTA 12 3,909 12-01-2017, 09:29 PM