Author Topic: On air roundtable  (Read 34018 times)

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Quiet1

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #30 on: December 04, 2013, 08:02:01 PM »
Well that was... hectic.  Good to hear a few of y'all though.
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idial1911

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #31 on: December 04, 2013, 08:05:41 PM »
Bands were pretty rough.. Maybe better next week?

Anyone available on a saturday morning or afternoon?
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Quiet1

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #32 on: December 04, 2013, 08:18:48 PM »
Bands were pretty rough.. Maybe better next week?

Anyone available on a saturday morning or afternoon?

Yeah, I could probably do a saturday, either time.  20 meters?  or 40?
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idial1911

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #33 on: December 04, 2013, 08:24:18 PM »
20 or 40.. or whatever happens to be open at that moment yea.
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ghrit

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #34 on: December 04, 2013, 10:28:47 PM »
Heard a call on 7.187, but couldn't get thru the noise to return it.  All else, no joy.
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Tempstar

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #35 on: December 06, 2013, 06:22:58 AM »
What are you all running? I was TS-480sat with G5RV. Going back to the Chameleon for the next round....
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ghrit

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #36 on: December 06, 2013, 08:17:37 AM »
What are you all running? I was TS-480sat with G5RV. Going back to the Chameleon for the next round....
Also TS 480sat (full power 100W) on a(n Armstrong) rotatable dipole.  (No alternates available until maybe next summer.)  If you consider a rotatable dipole as something that can be aimed, this one's physical axis was E-W for the test.  I guess that means the lobes are in the N-S direction.
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idial1911

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #37 on: December 06, 2013, 09:59:02 PM »
ts-590 and a g5rv..

I want something better than a g5rv, but not a full blown tower with a yagi... I am open for suggestions.
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Quiet1

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #38 on: December 07, 2013, 10:28:57 AM »
I went over to voacap.com and did some modeling to simulate the propagation conditions we can expect for this month.  Most people seem to have 20 & 40 meter capabilities as the common denominator, so I stuck with those bands.  Here are the coverage maps from my QTH at 0100 Zulu:

20 meters:


40 meters:


VOACAP, especially as implemented at voacap.com, is a blunt instrument, but I think the main point stands out: 20 meter coverage reaches a little bit farther but has a big donut hole, while 40 gives more solid coverage out to a slightly shorter range.  Based on this modeling, we ought to stick to 40 meters for these evening roundtables.  Based on experience... well, will some more experienced 20 meter operators please chime in?

Some notes on the modeling:  I generated the above maps centered on my location, but you can move the coverage around in your mind's eye and not be too far off.  The coverage applies for both send and receive (assuming the same power lever, pretty much everybody's  running 100 Watts).  I used my 'worst' antenna, an inverted dipole with a crummy SWR, so I bumped the power down to 50 Watts and used the 1/4 wavelength vertical option, that was the closest thing available.  The receive antenna is a dipole at 10 meters.  None of these little tweaks make any great deal of difference.  If you try using voacap.com, remember to set the time before each coverage map run (0100 UTC in this case).  If you don't do this, the web site resets the time to your closest just-passed hour every time you re-run.
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AD

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #39 on: December 07, 2013, 10:55:33 AM »
Very cool Q.  Did not know of this site.
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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #40 on: December 08, 2013, 10:52:32 PM »
Idial,
 I'm building a Carolina Windom as soon as I find time to wind the 4:1.  I have a friend who bought a commercial one and it is about 50% better performance wise than my G5RV for DX. The Chameleon is still the go-to for close in work though, and what I'll be on this Wednesday night.
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Quiet1

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #41 on: December 11, 2013, 05:56:10 PM »
Will be listening & calling on 7.2875 & 7.2555, 7.2955 last ditch if there's too much traffic on the first two.  Will scope out 7.187 some too.

0100 Zulu.
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ghrit

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #42 on: December 11, 2013, 07:10:20 PM »
I heard you, about 1 by zero, but couldn't get back on 2875.  The AT wouldn't bring the skyhook into a usable SWR.  The alt and last ditch wouldn't tune either, but the lower end of the band tuned up nicely.  If you still have this forum open, I'll call on 7. 2055 in a couple minutes.
« Last Edit: December 11, 2013, 07:13:10 PM by ghrit »
There are two kinds of ships.  Submarines and targets.
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Quiet1

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #43 on: December 11, 2013, 07:18:33 PM »
Just got your message.  7.2055 it is, will give a shout and a listen.
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Quiet1

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Re: On air roundtable
« Reply #44 on: December 11, 2013, 07:23:46 PM »
No, there's some awful interference here on 7.2055.

I'm going to go listen in on the Central Gulf Coast hurricane net on 3935.
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