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
• POssible boom pipe: http://www.dxengineering.com/Parts.asp?ID=5099&PLID=364&SecID=136&DeptID=43&PartNo=DXE-AT1484

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?