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None - waiting for parts to be shipped. | None - waiting for parts to be shipped. | ||
Oh, and it never stops raining here, so this could be an issue. | |||
=== Discarded approaches === | === Discarded approaches === |
Revision as of 08:16, 14 May 2011
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 radiowrodlbuilt into the tuner now- 3 PL259 connectors 4$ at radioworld
- Total, incl. shipping: 452.35$
- Ferrites: ~40$ + 24$ customs fees (where from again?!)
- 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
Mast | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part | Amount | Where | Weight | Price | Notes |
tripod | 1 | addison | ? | 45.56$ | ~2' x 2' |
3m steel pole | 1 | downstairs | ? | 0$ | to connect the boom and tripod, 1-1¼" |
sandbags | 3 | home depot | 30kg ea. | 10.76$ | one per leg |
plywood | 3'x4' | attic | ? | 0$ | |
Antenna and accessories | |||||
Part | Amount | Where | Weight | Price | Notes |
hose clamps | 8 | home depot | ~0 | 0$ | unit price ~2$ - found some |
8"x½" plastic tube | 1 | home depot | ~0 | 0$ | for spreader/wire attachment - found some |
15' 1¼" fiberglass | 8 | mgs4u.com (type 1) | 17.6lbs | ~160$ - actual: 255$CAD (!!) | 4.4lbs ea, unit price 19.80$ |
Clamps | 10-pack | dxengineering | ~0 | 14.95$ | to secure the feedline |
4m aluminium boom | 2 | DX engineering | 2.5lbs | 24.90$ | |
500' of wiring | 1 | DX engineering | N/A | 74.95$ | only parts of this will be used (120' to be more precise) |
Antenna (parts in shipping) | |||||
Part | Amount | Where | Weight | Price | Notes |
U clamps and bolts | 4 | ~0 | 0$ | included in the beam/pole fitting | |
boom/pole plate | 1 | Rick Adams | ? | 45$ + 30$ shipping | need to drill holes, includes reinforcement pole |
spider | 2 | Rick Adams | 2.3lbs | 70$USD | 14oz ea. 40$/ea, seems strong and sturdy, and Rick helped me through email, let's try! |
Antenna (parts to order) | |||||
Nothing! Just waiting for parts to be shipped now. :) |
Total planned price: ~373.77$
Total planned weight: ~25lbs++ - not including 180lbs of sandbags, the pole and tripod.
Notes
- Gauge: 10-16 AWG is okay (see AWG, that is 1.2-2.5mm or 1/10" - 1/20"), and can be insulated, according to this page
- Using welding wire is a good idea, as the lightning bolt quad uses
- I was suggested Dubo for electric supplies
Current blocker(s)
None - waiting for parts to be shipped.
Oh, and it never stops raining here, so this could be an issue.
Discarded approaches
Those parts were considered during the design phase but were discarded for various reasons.
Part | Amount | Where | Price | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
welding wire aluminium | 270' spool | canadian tire? | ? | example: Aluminium 5356 MIG alloy - too hard to find |
1 | home depot | ? | according to Rick, this could create interference | |
2 | creativeshelters.com | 3.08$ | couldn't order, they don't accept canadian zip codes, and shipping is 30$ anyways, and I don't trust PVC | |
8 | home depot | ~5$ | we'll use tie-wraps instead for spreader/wire attachment | |
4 | home depot | ? | PVC pipes are too flexible to hold properly, we need fiberglass | |
44.4m | ??? | 29.32$ (addison?) 48.64$ pour 2x12 22m (dubo) |
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.
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
- 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
- Wikipedia: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
- 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:
xplanet -latitude 45.5 -longitude -73.66 -wait 60 -label -projection azimuthal -fork -radius 90
- 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
ibp FN35EM
- 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:
- 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
- Another HF radio?
- Call those guys?