User:TheAnarcat

I am anarcat and i hope i'm not screwing things up here too much. :)

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:
  • 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
• Total rig cost so far: 1046.70$

I uploaded a few photos in this album.

New quad antenna project

A sketch of my antenna

I am working on building a new antenna, pictured right. It is based on this design, which uses a mix of PVC pipes and fiberglass rods, except I adapt it to a 20m antenna.

Here's my parts list.

Part	Amount	Where	Price	Notes
Parts on hand
tripod	1	addison (done)	45.56$	~2' x 2'
3m steel pole	1	downstairs	0$	to connect the beam and tripod, 1-1¼"
sandbags	3	home depot (done)	10.76$	one per leg
hose clamps	8	home depot	~15$	unit price ~2$
8"x½" plastic tube	1	home depot (done)	~2$	for spreader/wire attachment
Parts missing
15' 1" fiberglass	8	mgs4u.com - ordered	~160$	unit price 17.10$ - use the type 1L because the type 1 doesn't fit in the 5-way PVC connector
U clamps and bolts	4	home depot	?	for the beam/pole fitting
4m 1"PVC	1	home depot	?	or aluminium?
plywood	6'x5'	home depot	5$?	1' x 2' used for the beam/pole fitting
welding wire aluminium	270' spool	canadian tire?	?	example: Aluminium 5356 MIG alloy
5-way 1"PVC conn.	2	creativeshelters.com	3.08$	couldn't order, they don't accept canadian zip codes, and shipping is 30$ anyways
Discarded approaches
1"x½" copper pipe	8	home depot	~5$	we'll use tie-wraps instead for spreader/wire attachment
8m ½"PVC	4	home depot	?	PVC pipes are too flexible to hold properly, we need fiberglass
AUG 12 copper wire	44.4m	???	29.32$ (addison?) 48.64$ pour 2x12 22m (dubo)	addison doesn't have bare wire, and dubo only has bare up to 8 gage, too big (it's mainly for grounds) copper wire never comes bare, and i may have better luck finding mig soldering wire like Aluminium-5356

Total price: ~280$

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
• Concerned about the hub kit, that the PVC will either not fit or break, would rather have aluminium like this or this

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
  • 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:
  • 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

• Another HF radio?
  • ebay
  • radioworld
  • local
• Call those guys?