User:TheAnarcat

I am anarcat. I just passed my basic qualitification in Canada, with honors (so I can operate HF), yay! I am now AKA VA2ANK. -- TheAnarcat 21:50, 10 October 2010 (CDT)

= My rig =


 * Transceiver:
 * Yaesu FT-100D - 499$ on ebay - actual price: ~570$ (to be verified)
 * Antennas and gizmos at radioworld, first pass:
 * MFJ-941E - antenna tuner and switch 155$ at radioworld
 * MAP-G5RV 1/2 - G5RV 50' dipole antenna (10-40m) 85$ at radioworld
 * J146/440 - dual band VHF/UHF antenna (2m-70cm) 40$ at radioworld /!\ backorder
 * 100' of RG8 coax cabling 65$ at radioworld
 * MFJ-260C - 300W dummy load 0-150Mhz dry 50$ at radiowrodl built into the tuner now
 * 3 PL259 connectors 4$ at radioworld
 * Total, incl. shipping: 452.35$
 * Ferrites: ~40$ + 24$ customs fees (PN: 2643167851 from IBS electronics)
 * A shitload of PL259 connectors, usually around 2$ each
 * Documentation:
 * Canadian Amateur Radio Basic Qualification Study Guide: 40$
 * The RAC Operating Manual: 42$ (note: i didn't find this one really useful)
 * ARRL Handbook 2011, Softcover: 49.95$USD
 * ARRL Antenna Book: 44.95$USD
 * Total rig cost so far: 1242.60$ (not counting the quad project below)

I uploaded a few photos in this album.

New quad antenna project
I am working on building a new antenna. It is based on this design, which uses a mix of PVC pipes and fiberglass rods, except I adapt it to a 20m antenna and replace the PVC with aluminium for solidity. It should be possible to take the antenna apart and rebuild it if necessary.

Parts list


Total planned price: ~373.77$

Total planned weight: ~25lbs++ - not including 180lbs of sandbags, the pole and tripod.

Current blocker(s)
Waiting for parts to be shipped and for the rain to stop.

Discarded approaches
Those parts were considered during the design phase but were discarded for various reasons.

I had a lot of problems finding proper parts (pipes, raw materials like wiring and so on) in Montreal, which made building the antenna quite tricky, as a lot of things needed to be ordered online, which raised the overall costs because of shipping.

= Références =

Je collecte ici des bons sites au sujet du ham radio.


 * Manuals, courses
 * Good overview
 * Emergencyradio.ca online course
 * tech manual
 * HAM Radio primer - un peu vieux (14 ans!) dit que son kit a coûté 1000$
 * Hardware
 * hardware guide - motorola
 * Exams
 * certification pour licence canadienne
 * Exams at the Last HOPE
 * Clubs
 * Montreal Amateur Radio Club - Dorval est. 1932, mostly english and west-island-ish
 * Rive sud
 * Radio Amateur Canada
 * Other documentation
 * IRLP - Internet Radio Linking Project - using the internet to link stations
 * Call sign lookup
 * Available call signs in Canada
 * US Ham bands
 * Family_Radio_Service - intéressant pour commencer, comme le CB mais plus puissant et sans interférence, pas cher, j'ai acheté un cobra FRS

Software
This needs to be merged into Software

xplanet -latitude 45.5 -longitude -73.66 -wait 60 -label -projection azimuthal -fork -radius 90 ibp FN35EM
 * the oracles
 * http://packages.debian.org/gpredict
 * http://packages.debian.org/minimuf - allows you to compute the WikiPedia:MUF depending on salar activity and so on, but has an unusuable interface (you need to enter a series of digits... how about a GUI?!)
 * http://packages.debian.org/gcb - calculates the right angle for your antenna
 * http://packages.debian.org/xplanet - can show azimuthal projections of the earth on your background, screensaver or window - I use this in myxsession:
 * testing tools
 * http://packages.debian.org/ibp - very useful for training to receive distant comms: show you which beacon is active when, with a map
 * packet:
 * http://packages.debian.org/gmfsk - for packet radio
 * http://packages.debian.org/fldigi - also looks interesting and fairly complete, not tested
 * http://packages.debian.org/gpsk31, DebianPackage:linpsk, DebianPackage:phaseshift - same?
 * http://packages.debian.org/fbb - mailboxes?
 * to be tested:
 * http://packages.debian.org/grig - can control your radio from your computer
 * http://packages.debian.org/splat
 * http://packages.debian.org/wwl
 * http://packages.debian.org/wsjt
 * http://packages.debian.org/xastir
 * http://packages.debian.org/xwota
 * http://packages.debian.org/xdemorse
 * dismissed:
 * http://packages.debian.org/predict and http://packages.debian.org/predict-gsat - console only, doesn't bring much the gorgeous visuals of DebianPackage:gpredict

... others to follow, there's a whole hamradio section in debian.

= Stuff to buy next =


 * VHF/UHF SWR meter
 * Daiwa CN-801V 150$ 140-525 MHz.	20/200 Watts (5 reviews: 4.2/5)
 * workman 50$ (17 reviews: 3.5/5)
 * the bird 43 85$ (but only one way at a time) 200-500 MHz.	   50 Watts (39 reviews: 4.5/5)
 * Handhelds:
 * Baofeng UV-3R MKII radio (<50$) avec cable de prog ou UV-5R
 * Cabling:
 * 100' of RG8 cabling
 * Another HF radio?
 * ebay
 * radioworld
 * local
 * Call those guys?