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Every Monday Evening at 8pm Eastern Time, the W3GMS/R Crew get together on the repeater at 146.985Mhz and discuss technical questions and sometimes do lessons related to Ham Radio for newer Operators to learn from experienced Elmers. The Workbench was set up to be a safe place for any technical questions to get asked and good answers to be given.
Thanks for the reply, I was hoping to join the
roundtable. So I'll be here.
The workbench tonight, that's at 8 o'clock local
and the roundtable is at 8 on Thursday so we'll
look forward to having you join us to roundtable.
This is WA3VEA.
that gentleman, Ron, was at Field Day. I think
he's retired from Bell Labs. if that's the
case, sir, great to hear you on my repeater.
W3GMS.
Yes, Joe, you're right. I met you guys on
Sunday morning. It was a fun time. Thank you.
Okay, I won't get in the way of the net, but
this is the workbench that we're talking about.
It's great to hear you, and we'll talk later.
73, W3GMS, clear. The workbench. I'm located
in Westchester, Pennsylvania. We meet every
Monday at 8 p.m. on the W3GMS Parkesburg repeater.
Frequency is 146.985 with a negative 600 kilohertz
offset, and the PL tone is 100 hertz. For those
who use the Tone Squelch while receiving, the
repeater transmits a squelch tone of 94.8,
which comes especially handy if you have a rig
that handles that when there are band openings.
Newcomers are very welcome. We encourage all
stations to check in, especially the station
that just checked in. A warm welcome to you
here on 985 and to the workbench. Take look
at the repeater website located at www.w3gmsrepeater.com.
It has lots of information including technical
articles, of 985 users in action, and repeater
etiquette and history. Please be aware that
on occasion the repeater experiences intermod
interference. Now is a good time to switch
to maximum power or to be prepared to check
in digitally through EchoLink or All-Star.
We want to hear you. To be able to use EchoLink
or All-Star on 985, you do need to register
with us. Directions for doing so can be found
On the website, again, that's w3gmsrepeater.com.
Also, when Intermod is present before starting
any transmission, please give a short call
out to the net control, happens to be me, am
I getting in OK? Once the host confirms that,
then you can share your longer comments. Here
on the workbench, we focus on answering general
questions of radio theory and operations. Additionally,
we invite each station to briefly comment on
your amateur radio activity in the past week.
When checking in, please indicate if you have
a question for the workbench. If you don't
have a question, please still check in. After
all stations have checked in, we will first
share what we've done this past week in amateur
radio using a roundtable format. Please write
down the call to the station that checks in
right after you. When you have finished your
comments, turn the mic over to that station.
Once we have made our comments, we will start
the question and answer portion of the workbench
operating as a directed net. I will call on
the station that indicated having a question
then for stations who wish to respond to that
question. Wait to be recognized by net control
before beginning a transmission. Also, this
is the point where you, at the first part
of this net, if you're new to this, This is
where you just say you have a question, don't
post a question. We will call for the actual
question in the second part of the work batch.
At times, help for two stations to pass the
mic back and forth to help clarify the situation
to pass information. Feel free to do that as
needed. Pass the mic back to net control.
Also, it's a good rule to follow all the time.
Don't be too quick to talk. Pause a couple
seconds before hitting the press the talk switch.
This is good repeater etiquette and the pauses
are especially helpful for those on all star
and echo lengths. When you do click the PTT
button, wait a second or two before starting
to talk. You don't want to miss what you have
to say. It takes a moment for the repeater to
process your PL tone. Also, the repeater
has a three-minute timer. If you talk more
than three minutes without letting up on your
mic button, the repeater completely shuts down
until you release your PTT switch. So every
two to three minutes, release the mic button
just for a moment, just like this. and then
you can continue. You don't need to let the
repeater carrier drop. Before we begin, I want
to say thanks to all of our Workbench hosts.
They're the ones that make this happen. If
you may be interested in hosting a Workbench,
please contact Jim AF3Z or any one of us and
we'll help you get started. Lastly, please join
us this Thursday at 8 p.m. for the 985 roundtable.
At this time we're going to start the check-in
process. Remember to indicate if you have a
question for the group. So, digital stations,
digital stations only, those using EchoLink
or All Star. It's time for you to check in
and I will leave long pauses. So hopefully
you don't need to check the O-bit column. I
will be back. But I leave long pauses to make
it easier for those, especially on EchoLink,
to check in. Digital stations only. Those using
EchoLink are all-star. This is WA3VE and you're
listening to the 985 workbench. Please check
in now. Digital only. I one comment quickly,
Ron. Right ahead. Did you start the net when
I was talking to our new guest? At 8 o'clock
in about 6 seconds. to make a final transmission
to him and when I signed, you were talking.
I that was an accident.
I didn't hear anything. I did not hear anything.
That's why I started the net. I figured something
like that happened. Not an issue. you must not
have heard me because I knew you would not
do it. But especially as the owner of the
repeater, if I'm talking to somebody at eight
o'clock, then that can start at eight o'clock
plus 15 seconds. Now there must have been a
technical defuglity which happens. Have fun,
take care, and thank you very, very much for
running the workbench tonight. Whiskey 8, Charlie
Romeo Whiskey, CR, no question.
I have a question.
Alpha Charlie 2 Echo Golf, no question.
Alpha Alpha 3, Lima Hotel, no question, we just
got a bad thunderstorm.
Oh, Keelan Victor 3, Julia Gulf Bravo. question.
So far we have WHCRW, KC3HQZ, with a question.
We have Alpha Charlie 2 Echo Golf, Alpha
Alpha 3 Lima Hotel, and we have KV3JGB. Any
other digital question, any other digital
check-ins, please call now.
KC3SQI with a question.
KC3WWC with a question.
any additional digital check-ins. This is WA3VE.
go to RF check-ins now. is WA3VE and this is
the 985 workbench. Please call out.
23TYX
NA-3CW, no question. KC30K, no question.
Kilo Delta 3, Echo Mike Sierra, no question.
Alpha Foxtrot 3 Zulu, no question.
Jeez, nope.
KD3AIS with a question.
Okay, any additional check-ins before we run
down the list and get started? This is WA3
VEE.
a roundtable session in a moment. This is the
list that I have here. remember who follows
you in this list and turn it over to them.
WHCRW, KC3HQZ with a question, AC2EQ, AA3LH,
KV3JGB, KC3SQI, KC3WWC, and Wayne and John
both have questions. KC3TYX, NA3CW, KC3OOK,
KD3EMS, AF3Z, W3KZG, and finally KD3AIS with
a question. One last call for check-ins before
we get started. This is WA3VEE. Please call
now.
Okay, take one minute and explain what we did
in the last, each of us explain what we did
in the last week in amateur radio and CR you
can kick us off. WHCRW, WA3VE.
Thanks Ron, and thanks for taking the chair.
And you got a long list, so I'm going to make
it quick. 985 activities, but the highlight
was field day weekend. And the highlight
of the highlight was Gene's Scrapple and Egg
Sandwich. Speaking of Gene, KC3HQZ, pick it
up. WHCRW.
Go ahead. Thanks, CRW. KCGH, she said. Yeah,
that was kind of a highlight. I cooked for
everybody and they all enjoyed it. And I was
glad. And that's why I cook. OK. No question.
OK. But we did have a good weekend. We really
enjoyed ourselves. I'm not sure who was next.
Echo, Echo Go.
This is Alpha Charlie 2 Echo Golf. Name here
is Eric. And my activity this week was introducing
myself to the group and getting out the field
day. I want to thank everyone there for their
hospitality and introducing me to all the
things the repeater group does. I'm hoping
to get on the air soon. And doing it the hard
way. I'm trying to. build my own stuff rather
than buy it but I'll still be around as long
as there's an echo link. That's all for now.
I'll pass the baton to AA3L8.
Yeah. Good evening everybody. This is AAH308.
Yeah. Highlights. Field Day. Man, I like field
days. I went out there and tried making some
contacts Sunday afternoon and I got dupes.
Almost all of them were dupes. I made one official
legal contact. And I was not a dude, but I
have fun. It's fun running field day. I just,
I just enjoy that. And we have a thunder, heavy
thunderstorm going on. got bloomers. I thank
the Lord and I thank you for having echo links
so we can still talk. Other that we would not
be on the repeater tonight because she's not
banging away outside. Uh, that's all I have.
We have a lot of questions. I'm going to let
it go at that. Okay. Yeah. Who did I write down
here, I'm not sure. If you ever follow me,
go ahead. A308.
Thank you, Leon KV3, JGB, Mountain Valley. Like
everybody said, got a lot of questions and
a lot of people, so I'll keep it brief. 95 repeater
activity and of course field day. Unfortunately,
some personal things prevented me from attending
and actually even operating at field day. But
sounds like it didn't even that much. We had
a great field day and I was able to make it
up. Brought Chester County Commissioner, Eric
Grow up there. He was really excited to listen
to a lot of people talk, including Ron, talk
about all the emergency benefits of amateur
radio. So that is it for me and I'll hand it
over to KC3SQI, KB3JGB.
uh... thank you very much this case c three
s q i uh... the uh... thirty-meter new antenna
mast about ready to go and about ready to set
up gotta put the uh... crossmember on it and
uh... settled up right but it is uh... put
together and ready to go as soon as the weather
breaks a little bit so that I can work out there
without sweating to death. So with that,
I'll turn it over to KC3WWC. This is KC3SQI.
KC3WWC, can you tell me if I'm getting in on
You are, John. Just go ahead.
was John in Lannister. For my past couple weeks
I was traveling, I was in California, so I
got to activate a park twice. One day I hiked
my gear in a mile and half on my back and
then the next day I was out there I biked a
couple miles in and up a mountain so I wasn't
down in the...
field day so I kept it QRP, emergency power
on the patio here at home so my 50 contacts
turned into 650. Over to Vic, KC3TYX, this is
KC3WWC. Thank you, John. KC3WWC. This is KC3TYX,
Nick. I'll keep it pretty short. Got a long
list here. Ended up doing field day with the
State Line Radio Club down in Rising Sun, Maryland
this year. And it was pretty good time. Weather
wasn't as bad as we thought it might be, so
I was happy with it. I didn't say earlier,
but I have no question. And I will now pass
it on to... NA3CW from KC3TYX.
We're making it in OK and A3CW. Copy, Chuck,
go ahead. Very good. Standing here with my
HT. We've got a thunder boomy going on outside.
So I disconnected everything and shut all the
equipment off. So since I am within HT distance
of the repeater, I got that luxury. I'll keep
it short because of the lifts. Ham radio this
week was field day, field day prep, field day
operations, and field day cleanup. And of course,
985 operations and the PMAM net on Sunday.
So, let's see, that would be next to Bill, KC30,
okay, this is NA3CW.
in the air. Tonight I prompt, I hosted a...
Both have.
computer was down, but we were able to get,
I guess, five or six people on the 985 Simplex.
KC3EMS. KC3OK. Good evening everybody. Bill,
great to meet you on Saturday. So yeah, the
highlight will definitely be, will definitely
be field day for myself. With only being a
ham for a couple of months, that was my first
field day. And what an experience. I cannot
say enough about AO3Z Jim. I got the chance
to sit down next to him for a good, probably
20 minutes to half an hour and just learn so,
much. Definitely also from Chuck, N-E-3-C-W,
doing the go to station. What an experience
that was. It definitely makes me want to get
my general sooner than later. it was my first
contact on HF and I got a good seven or eight
contacts on Saturday. So once again, thanks
everybody, even the people that are here tonight,
as well as... What was the other gentleman's
name? K3YVIJack was also extremely helpful
as well. yeah, this definitely boosted my
urge to get my general license and move on.
So I believe I'm actually going to pass it
back over to AVZ3... AF3Z.
Okay, very good Chris. Yeah, it good to get
to talk with you as well. And yeah, that
was fun. Field day was good. A little warmer
than I'd like, but it really wasn't too oppressive
this year. And got some good CW in, worked
with Luke for a while there, logging and sending
or whatever. forget who was doing what when,
but we had a good time. I did a good pratfall
and survived it quite well. I remember very
carefully setting up, putting the wires and
trying to get them neat. We had cones up so
people wouldn't trip over them. So who but
me would come walking by eating some food and
totally forget about it and fall flat on my
face almost. But I really survived it quite
well, thanks to Tom. I'm not sure on that.
Anyway, Tom was my doctor and helped patch
me up, but I'm really doing quite well. So
anyway, yeah, thanks to everybody and all the
people who put a lot of work into getting ready
for that. Good time. So after me comes Scott.
Good to see you and Dylan both over the weekend
too. W3KZG, AF3Z.
F3Z, this is W3KZG. Am I getting into the repeater
room? Beautifully, Scott. Go right ahead.
This week in radio.
My first.
He had done field day up there before and a
few times.
and this was the first one.
actually I think everything went pretty smooth.
Cheers.
a few more little things here and there that
would make it a little easier.
And that is all I have for now. W3K03AIS,
this is W3KZJ.
W3KZG, is KD3AIS, Tim and Malvern. In the last
week, I unfortunately missed field day, but
when I got home, I was able to listen to the
20 meter band. Thank you all.
that, I will send it back to Ron, WA-3.
Good Tim, excellent, all the way around. So
before we get started with the question section,
let me ask if there are other additional check-ins,
digital or RF? This is the 985 workbench and
this is WA3VE. Additional check-ins, any mood,
please call now. 3SC1.
3QP, no question.
Okay, last call for check-ins before we go to
Luke and Tim for their comments on what they
did in Ham Radio for the last weekend. Last
call for check-ins. This is WA3VE.
W3MFB? No question.
Okay, very good. Luke, it's the last check-ins
here, KC3SKY, W3QP, W3MFB. So Luke, one minute
on what you did in ham radio in the last week.
This is WA3VEE and this is the 985 workbench.
Thanks for hosting.
I was working with George and...
and I need a lot of...
for field day.
internet logging system which
Like we had the coax all set up. thought, well,
of course I was in there to set up Friday.
So because I was at camp, was, I didn't know
what happened then,
I thought everything went pretty smoothly,
so... Anyways... just been working on my CW
and I plan to operate the 13 colonies event.
I think at 8 a.m. hopefully I can... on one
band. hope to make at least half because more
people have told me work them early in the
morning instead of late in the afternoon because
that's when all the pilots are. So anyways,
over to Tim. W3QP. This is KC3SKY.
C3 SCY this is W3 QP also field day for my
activity for this past week I've been busy
with stuff around the house so not too many
projects but I guess one thing I wanted to
mention is there is a special event station
K3H that's going to happen up at the Eastern
Pennsylvania Homestead Festival which is up
in Oh, hang on a second, Kutztown. So in
Kutztown this coming weekend, Thursday through
Sunday, they're looking for operators to come
up and do two-hour shifts. Joe sent an email
out about it, but if you're not on the email
list, I'm good on QRZ. Drop me a note and I
can get you the information. That is all for
me. Over to W3MFP, think it was. This is W3QP.
everybody on the workbench 95 workbench this
is whiskey three mike fox bravo um torndale
mike uh... had part of field day uh... spent
a few hours on saturday and a few hours on
sunday operating bronze radio the ft-nine ninety
one alpha that was for six meter and two meters
sideband got a kick uh... cranking up that tower
or that math i should say uh... Sunday morning,
I was sitting at home and noticed there was
an opening, a band opening on the PHF propagation,
the packet propagation. We were in the yellow
and the orange and red. And I was like, Oh
God, I said, I gotta get up there. I bet you
that station's still locked down from when
we shut it down, when we heard the lightning
and all on Saturday evening, Saturday night.
So I got that going up in the morning. So made
a few contacts here and there, two meter sideband
and six meters. Six meter was the kicker. Had
a few on too. Enjoyed talking to each operator.
Actually made the contact, hit enter, logged
them in and then said hello and how are conditions
and got reports from people. Some people were
giving me, giving me bearings. uh... from my
location to try to look for a few people uh...
and actually work was able to uh... to make
some more contacts by that information so it's
great to be friendly and uh... and help each
other out for sure so had a great time on six
uh... it was more fun and and then just be
given your uh... your information your classes
section and you're gone you know so we had
some fun along with making some contacts for
the log book. No question tonight, so I will
pass it over to Ron so we can get this shindig
started. WA3VEW3MFB on EchoStink. First of
I want to thank all those who participated in
Field Day this weekend. A lot of work, but
a great team effort. And my understanding
is we had 1,400 contacts at least. So, or
thereabouts, plus or minus. And if anyone has
any videos or pictures, please, if you like,
to have those posted on SmugMug like I usually
do, please send them over to me. If there
are many... I have Google Drive, I have Dropbox,
so I can take large, large, large files for
sure. So almost never get pictures anymore
over email, definitely. So Google Drive or
Dropbox will work wonderfully. OK, now we'll
begin the roundtable session. And we'll start
with the questions and answers. And I'll go
over who has questions here in a second. We
encourage all stations to make comments, observations,
and share experiences. Don't assume that your
level of experience and knowledge isn't enough.
We can all learn from each other and contribute
to our discussions. So feel free to pick up
the mic and have some fun and share your experiences.
So right now I've got Gene, KC3HQZ, with
a question. I've got KC3SQI with a question.
KC3WWCJohn. And I have Tim, KD3AIS, with a
question. Is there anyone on, who has checked
in, who I missed, who has a question? Go ahead.
You're first. KC3HQZWA3VEE. What's your question?
Okay K23HQZ, thanks Ron. My question is why
does a PODA station have a different call
sign than the rest of the field day activities?
Yeah, field day activities I guess I want to
Okay, why does the Pota station have a different
call sign than the field day activity? Did
I get the question correct?
Yes, just wondered. Those who want to respond
to Gene's question, this is WA3VEE, please
call now.
KC3WWC. KC3WWCWA3VE
rolled in here so I switched back to digital.
I did see a couple POTA stations while I was
operating. was on digital, I was doing FT8
because I just had a few hours. I assume they
just didn't want to participate. I know there
was some discussion. People were like, oh,
the bands are going to be useless because of
field day. The field day exchanges were different.
You were doing the classes and counts and
your section. that's not the POTA exchange.
So maybe they just wanted to stick to POTA and
ignore field day. That's my guess. Back to
you, KC3, WWC. Additional comments for Gene,
this is WA3VE, please call now.
AF3Z here, Click twice here. Question, I guess.
Were we talking about the GODA station? Why
a GODA was W3GTS and the others were W3R?
I'm not sure, but I think that maybe was the
question, AF3Z. Yeah, that's a good point there,
Jim. Gene, KC3HQZ, WA3VE, did you mean the
GODA station? Go ahead.
The G word. The G word.
That's a different question. Okay, great.
So why does our go to station have a different
call sign than the Whiskey 3 Romeo? People
want to respond to that. Go ahead.
AF3Z. Go Jim, thanks for pointing that out.
I didn't catch that at all at first for sure.
Jim, AF3Z, WA3VEA.
All right, very good. And I don't have the answer,
but I'll tell you my supposition, my guess
or whatever. The go to station is very much
to encourage new hams and not yet hams, people
who may get licenses eventually, to get on the
air. And it's meant to be one of the major
efforts of field day in a way. So I assume
it's kept kind of separate so that it's Well,
and the contacts made on the GoTo station also
count more. I think it's like five points rather
than one or two for SideBanner CW. So anyway,
I think it's to encourage groups to have a
GoTo station and really emphasize that. And
so by keeping it a separate call sign or something,
it doesn't add in to how many stations we say
we have operating. So it's kind of a bonus
station. for our field day effort and it's a
bonus station for getting the word out and
getting people a little experience on ham radio.
So that's the way I understand it. I don't
know if there's any other big reason for a different
call sign but I've been wrong at least once
or twice. Back to you Ron, AF3Z. Very good.
Any additional comments on why GODA has a
different call sign than the rest of field day?
W3MFB.
So a little muffled, don't know what's going
on there, but you're copyable. So go ahead,
this is WA3VE.
Sorry about that, Ron. I will try to annunciate
W3MFB here. I'm thinking, like Jim said
as well, having a different call sign to be
able to track those Go-Tas, Go-Tas contacts.
As Jim said, they're going to be having more
points so you can tally up all the Go-Tas
stations and contacts that you have. Keeping
it separate from Whiskey 3 Romeo is a good
point. because then you will have the operators
initials in underneath the call sign. So you'll
be able to track also how many non-licensed
or just newly licensed operators were at the
go to station. So I believe it's good for metrics
as well, keeping track of visitors and newly
licensed to get on the air and experience and
have fun. So I think that's another good reason
to have the other calls on as well. back to
you Ron, hopefully I came through okay on the
echo link. WA3VEE in the group, W3MFB. That's
what it is. Yeah, very good, Mike. Excellent.
Any additional comments for Jean before I turn
it back to her? This is WA3VE and this is
the 985 workbench.
WC3HQZ, WA3VE, do we answer the question?
Yes, you did answer my question. Thanks so much.
think I understand now. It's more the good.
It's more of a training session and the regular
call sign is for the experienced guys and
the ones that are working to get point and the
good is for you to learn how to do this and
get on. So I thank you very much. I understand.
KK60HQZ.
Good Gene, excellent. Well glad we answered
your question and we should have gotten you
over there to actually see what was going on
but you'll see some videos and also lot of
photographs when they go to station. Okay next
up is Wayne, KC3SQI, WA3VE with the workbench.
Your question please.
Okay, thank you Ron, WA3VEE. This is KC3SQI.
My question is I'm looking at possibly going
from a Windham to a hex beam and the hex
beam only weighs 25 pounds. and it will have
about a one foot base pole on it to work
for the rotor. Now, since I'm only going up
thirty feet, would a small TV antenna rotor
work with that without a thrust bearing?
So, try to find out or figure out about what
I would need for us to not have to have a
thrust bearing. go through all of the uh...
things that you have to do for that. Back to
you.
Very good. or remarks for Wayne. This is WA3VE.
C3OK, comment. Bell KC3 OK WA3 VEE go ahead.
Thanks, Ron. Well, everyone knows I'm new to
this world of beams.
about it but my first reaction would be that
weighing 25 pounds is actually pretty good
weight for an ant.
really darn pretty darn cheap.
The A's over. It might do it, but I don't think
it would hold up for a long time. But that's
just my guess. I'll be curious to hear what
WRAD W3PEKC30K. input. Additional comments
for Wayne. is WA3 VEE.
W3MFB
3MFB WA3 VEE, go ahead.
Thank you Ron. I'd have to agree with Bill on
that one. mean, know there's Wayne, I know
there's some that you can get at the local Home
Depot or Lowe's RCA makes one. Now our buddy
Aaron, he had one TV rotor on his homemade six
meter dipole, horizontal dipole that he made.
So it was just PVC and six gauge. solid-gauge
wire. It was great for six meter, but it didn't
weigh a lot. And he had that sitting in the
concrete, like a five gallon bucket, up on
the flat roof and some PVC pipe. So it really
didn't do the job. I mean, it did the job for
that. It's a light thing. It only weighed like
six pounds or whatever, right? Just the antenna
were less. Most TV HD... antennas they're going
to be from the 10 pound like the residential
ones that you see around here some Yagi shape
some different shapes but I would imagine
they're probably like 10 12 or 10 pounds or
less and I agree with Bill on the dexterity
of of the consumer market rotors uh... back
to run w a three p e w three msd
Very, very good. Additional comments for Wayne.
Good question, Wayne, for sure. This is WA3VE,
additional comments.
Good entry OGF your comments please this is
WA3VE Radio Shack, Wavies Radio Shack, in
central road. The first one I had a four helmet
course craft mounted horizontal, high wind
that destroyed it. Two mounted on it and a
six-feet of coach grip horizontally on two
different ones and they were flying, but the
first one, it got the sprouting high wind
with a four-elm and coach grip and field gyf.
Good. N3OGF, remember correctly your name is
John. Did I get that right? did, Ron. Me name
is John. I met you last year, uh, no day. I
could not make it this year because I'm medically
restricted from driving. NPOGF. Well, look
for the photographs. We'll be glad to share
with what we did. Excellent comments. Other
comments for Wayne and the rotor question.
This is WA3VE.
3KZG. W3KZGWA3VEE, go ahead please. So I looked
up the specs on a Channel Master TV rotor,
I'm guessing that's the version or... They don't
have a weight rating for the weight of the
antenna. They just tell you what the rotor's
capable of doing. If you were going to do
it, I don't see it not working, but I would
put the antenna as close to the rotor as possible.
Don't put a big piece of pipe above the rotor
to give it extra wind torque on the rotor
itself. Just put the antenna right above the
rotor, maybe a foot, and keep it as close
to the rotor as possible. And you should be
okay. I don't know how many years of service
it'll give you, but it should work. But 25
pounds, that seems pretty heavy for, I don't
know what the antenna is, I haven't looked that
up, but yeah, I would keep it as close to the
rotor as possible to keep wind torque off of
it because they have very small, I don't even
think they use bearings, I think they use plastic
bushings on their main shaft in those ones.
consider the light duty rotor.
Like I said, I don't know the antenna and the
wind load it's going to put on it, but I
would keep it as close to the rotor as possible.
This is W3K's edgy. Scott, thank you so much.
Any additional comments for Wayne?
through my two centavos or three zwoti in here.
Basically, I'm looking up also, generally a
question, usually put a question like this right
to Google and it comes up. Channel master,
and this is one model, do not know again if
this is what you're considering, but says the
channel master 9521A is designed for antennas
weighing approximately 15 pounds with a mass
of about three feet. Again, these are consumer
grade, they're light duty, so not sure it
would really handle. And also consider ice.
It's one thing that this time of year with
thunderstorms outside and heat and ice unless
it's in a glass with iced tea or whatever your
preferred beverage is, we normally don't think
about ice. But that adds an additional weight
load. So my suggestion would be go for a light
or medium duty YASU, not something to cheap
out on. So one last call for comments for
Wayne. This is WA3VE.
KC3SQI WA3VEE. Do we answer your question, Wayne?
Good evening everybody. Yes you did and I think
I will also put the thrust bearing on it and
put that to the top of the inch and a half rigid
conduit and that should keep it where it
work for you know, go with the light duty Yates
and thrust bearings. So thank you for that
and I will turn it back to you Ron, KC3SQI.
Clear.
Very good Wayne, excellent. John, you're next.
KC3WWC with a question. This is WA3VE with
the workbench.
Thanks for on this KC3WWC, am I still making
it in on digital? Beautiful, full copy and
almost full quieting, go right ahead.
getting an NFED half wave here for 80 meters.
It breaks occasionally and I put it back up
and I'm having a little trouble getting it to
like tune on all the, or not tune, but get
resonance on all the bands, all the harmonics.
It doesn't quite line up. You know, I've got
a capacitor in there that I've put in and out
and I was like, I saw what that does. But I
end up using the tuner on the radio to touch
it up and use it that way. So I'm wondering
if I'm getting my... it. Is there much benefit
over just a... favorite 71. same tree and
use the tuner the same way. There doesn't
make much difference between the NFED half
wave and the NFED random wire if I'm not quite
hitting all the resonances. Back to you.
Very, very good. Comments for John. This is
WA3VEA.
Random thoughts, NA-3CW. And A3CW, WA3VE, please
proceed with randomness thought.
Yeah, I assume your NFET half wave has a transformer.
Yes, I've built it with a 49 to one and I think
I have a 64 to one that I wound that I'm using
right now.
Okay, and therefore you have a coax feed from
that transformer to your tuner.
Correct, coax feed, probably about 50 feet
of coax and I do have a counterpoise on the
antennas.
kind of mismatch are you getting?
It's thick, it's towards three to one in some
of the places and I'll touch it up to get it
down closer to two and a half or two to one.
There are a couple that go up to like...
Okay, I assume it's okay to go back and forth,
Ron. When you had the wire going directly
to your tuner, did you have any, I mean, what
made you change it from that to an infant halfway?
Oh, just like to change things occasionally
and experiment. I had always done random wires
here, but I realized I had enough space. could
just eke out the 40 meter long wire to that
tree. So I gave it a shot.
Okay, so I'll roll it all up here. So you have
the tuner, you got 50 feet of coax running
at a high SWR and you've got a transformer
that may or may not be running in its efficient
range. I would say if the way you had it was
you were able to tune it to all the bands
you want satisfactorily without anything in
the middle. I'm thinking it's probably more
efficient, assuming you had no issues with RF
in the wrong places and all that sort of
thing. But from a loss standpoint, you're eliminating
a transformer and eliminating 50 feet of coax
that's running at highest WR. I'd to hear some
other comments on that from others. Back to
NET, NA-3CW.
This is WA3VEE, please.
be clear, I swapped antennas around, but I'm
using the same radio with the same built-in
tuner and the same run of coax. Just at the
end of the coax, I am swapping the transformer
and the wire. Back to you.
3CW WA3VE. Chuck, you want to respond to that
or, well let me ask you that first question
first. Do you want to respond to that? Not sure
I heard all of it or understood what I heard.
You want to say all that again, please?
Okay, yeah, thanks Chuck. This is KC3WWC. I
have the same radio with the same built-in
tuner and the same run of coax for any of my
antenna setups. Then the transformer and
the wire changes. That's it. So the coax is
involved and the counterpoise is involved
in everything. Back to you.
So you were tuning your random wire at the end
of a piece of coax, yes?
It just, I thought I could go a little bit
longer, let's try something else.
in here for a second. John, you're clipping
the very first part of your transmission, so
again, give it a couple seconds after you press
the PTT. We missed the first couple syllables
there, which is said, I think was, Chuck was
asking you a yes-no question, we totally missed
that, so I think he asked if you're tuning,
you're tuning the antenna at the end of that
coax. So give it a little bit of delay before
you respond.
KC3WWCWA3VEA.
Yep, sorry about that. I got excited, but I'm
on digital. I am, yeah, it's the same radio
with tuner to coax to transformer to wire.
So the tuner is always at the radio end
of the coax. Back to you.
So back when you were doing your random wire,
you had a random wire at the end of that coax
as opposed to the so-called inset halfway
with the transformer. Is that correct? And
again, click then talk.
Yes, the random wire was at the end of the coax
and there was a 9 to 1 transformer in between
instead of the 49 to 1 for the NFET or for the
NFET
Yeah, I wish you had said you had a tuner out
at the end, but you don't.
I guess one last question, what size is your
co-ac?
Um, have to...
It is, it's not the thin, thin stuff, but it's
not LMR 400. It's probably... or whatever
it is.
Okay, yeah, you have a combination of inefficiencies
there. Running high SWR on RG58 versus say
an RG8 family. You got a lot of loss there.
Yeah, this is a more complicated question
than maybe we have time for. Generally speaking,
you don't want to be tuning a high SWR load
through a piece of coax, especially small coax,
and that's what that is for this purpose.
Generally, a remote tuner is the ticket for
what you want to do, the remote tuner and
a piece of wire. The that you have difficulty
getting a transformer down to a decent SWR
with the 49 to 1 and you're trying various
remote tweaks at that. Yeah, that's difficult
situation. And yeah, I think I'm rambling.
Back to NET.
Good. Let me stop there and let me ask first
of all, John, is this making any sense and
are you looking for additional comments? KC3WWCWA3VEA.
I am all for experimenting and stuff, and that's
what I've been doing, but I ask questions along
the way so I can see if I understand it a little
bit better. I understand that it would be
better to tune at the other end. I do put
the Nano VNA on my Enfit Halfwave, and I try
to lengthen it and bump it around to try to
get all the bands closer, but there's still
some that aren't, and I need the tuner. So
the question is, if I've got my NFET half wave
and I'm still needing the tuner for some of
those bands, am I any better off than if
it was just a random wire that would work
just fine too, you know, on the coax with the
same inefficiencies and all that same feed inefficiencies?
Yeah, so just wondered is there, should I
stick with the NFET or is it fine at that point
to just go back to the random wire and try
that again? I'll see how it does, how it performs.
Back to you, KC3WWC. 3QP? Tim, go ahead, W3QP
WA3VEA. W3V and the group W3QP. I certainly
agree with everything Chuck's saying. I think
to try to get at the question you're asking,
you talked about having trouble getting the
half wave to line up on all the handbands.
That is super normal, especially when you're
running in trees. Everything reacts with everything.
And so what I get on my property and what
you get on your property is very likely to be
different. So that's pretty normal. I do not
know off the top of my head what the efficiency
of a 9 to 1 and what the efficiency is of a
49 to 1 from a transformer perspective. taking
everything out of the equation, if, and I'm
making numbers up because I don't know, if the
49 is 90 % efficiency and the 9 to 1 is 99
% efficiency, obviously there's an advantage
there. I don't know. I do know with the half
waves you can stack cores to handle more
power, but it also affects the efficiency.
I'll have to dig around and see if I can find
the article that I have that gets into the
efficiency there. There are ways of measuring
that with your nano VNA, but I don't know the
details off the top of my head. As for the
individual bands. It really depends on what
SWR you're pulling on the individual bands.
Again, I'll make up numbers. If you're at
1.5 to 1 on 20 meters with the half wave and
you're 1.6 to 1 on 20 meters with the random
wire, then for that band, your half wave is
a little bit more efficient. Again, you have
to look at the transformer side of things.
So it just really depends on what bands you're
using. what the efficiency is for that particular
band. The transformers are not going to be
the same efficiency across all the bands. So
it really gets down and you're going to have
to measure and dig out the numbers. Somebody
on the internet might have answers for you,
but I certainly don't know. I don't know if
that helps point you in a direction, if that
answers your question. I will turn it back
over to Nat. This is W3QP.
Very good. John, let me turn it back to you
and see if we gave you enough information to
go on there. KC3WWCWA3VEE
Yes, Tim, thank you, and Chuck, thank you.
It gives me some things to think about, especially
the efficiency of the transformer that I've
built, and swapping them in and out, and what
they might be doing. I did play around with
a 49 to 1 and a 64 to 1 as I was trying to
make things happen. But it's good also to
know that it's not uncommon for them to just
be a little, just for some of the bands to
be a little off when I look at the tunings.
I'll do the experiment, I'll report back. Maybe
the 71 foot wire is, well I'll look back and
realize it doesn't perform near as well. But
I'll give it a shot and I'll see what I can
measure. Thank you. KC3WWC. Very good. Last
question for the evening is Tim, KD3AIS WA3VEA.
Tim had a power failure out there. K-E-3-A-I-S-W-A-3-V-E-E.
I'm going check the PICO outage map.
KD3AIS, sorry I stepped away at the wrong time.
My apologies. Tim, go ahead with your question.
My question is a newer ham who's not a general
yet and trying to listen to the traffic
on field day, just on 20 meters, because that
was the easiest for me to do. I'm on a Yehsu
FT-991A and I started thinking about, I wonder
if a computer screen is helpful, or some kind
of screen is helpful at all in trying to navigate.
HF, sure there's plenty of people that will
say never use it. can look at all the pictures
of people, stations that have no screens. So
I'm sure it's possible to do without a computer
screen. But I was just interested, has anybody
ever found it beneficial to use a computer screen
and or maybe this is why people get a second
radio and then it has a slightly bigger screen.
So my question is, is a screen helpful at all?
and looking at tuning in HF, your thoughts.
Thank you.
W3MFB. Comments for Tim. This is WA3VEA.
Sorry, Ron. W3MFD, comment? W-A-3-V-E-E-I Mike.
thank you ron you know working uh... echo link
on the phone is uh... and haven't done in a
while it's a little difficult uh... i have uh...
also have their radio and uh... operated on
field day for six meter into the inside there
had every year of where we one hundred water
you have had since i've been a m since nineteen
uh... honestly Alright, so the waterfall on
the 991 is like looking at the NES Super Mario
Brother 8-bit, you know? And then you see all
the other modern Yee-Soo or i-Com 7300, whatever.
And it's like, you know, PlayStation 4 or 5,
right? Honestly, yes, it's nice when you're,
say you're on a frequency and you're finishing
up your Q-So, whatever, and then you see some
activity down below. uh... but are fully i'd
use it yes but do what i put on the computer
screen no uh... personally i would not do
that because i'm listening i'm using my ears
because i'm turning that dial i'm using my
ears and turning that dial because if you don't
have the waterfall you don't have a spectrum
scope on your radio or whatever uh... You're
just using your ears and turning the dial and
you're listening for good stations that you
can copy, especially on field day or a contest.
always make sure that I am able to first,
I listen. don't just jump at the, my God, there's
somebody in Washington who cares? Okay. I'm
going to listen and make sure that I can understand
their call sign. and understand the information
they're giving, it's powder or something like
that, what the number is. I usually write all
that stuff down first and then once I can
hear them fine, then I make the contact. Yes,
all the technology that these newer radios
have is excellent, but me personally, guess,
I'm new school to him, but old school in thinking.
I don't think it's necessary, but that's just
my point of view. uh... w three m f p back
to row Hey, very good, Mike. Other comments
for Tim? This is WA3VE. You're listening to
the 985 Workbench. Other comments, please?
W-A-H-C-R-W W-A-H-C-R-W W-A-3-V-E-E-G-S-G-R
agree with Mike, but I would say I have a 19
inch monitor connected to my Yee-Soo FT-DX10.
And it makes looking at the screen a lot
easier. It's not necessary, but I call it
a bonus. Back to that.
Okay, very good CR. Other comments for Tim?
WA3VE here.
KZG. 3KZG WA3VEE, you got it
I with CR. I also have a DX10. Now it's not,
I think the DX10 screen is actually.
did have the screen hooked up to my DX10 for,
I would say... of Saturday on field day
and then I had to give up the power cord for
that monitor to my brother so he could recharge
his batteries that he was running his 7300
off of because we had only brought one computer
plug cable. used so I went the rest of field
day without the big screen and it didn't seem
to inhibit me at all. So it is nice looking
at the big monitor though, especially if you
have aging eyes or wear glasses. is easier
to see.
Not, not needed.
warned so many times just be sure to use a DBI.
sure you don't backfeed voltage into the radio.
If you would use like an H-
Absolutely very true. Additional comments
for Tim. This is WA3VE. CW. 3CW WA3 VEE.
in the immortal words of KFC. Okay. This weekend
I had Ron's 710 and it has a little screen
on it and he plugged it into a big screen. Now,
I agree that the bigger screen makes it easier
to see your settings and look at the S meter
and frequency is right there in front of
you and especially with all the visitors we
had, it was a wonderful thing, especially with
all the visitors. But as far as the band scope
went, The general condition was so noisy
and so packed with stations that the band scope
was pretty much useless. Because you're getting
perfectly, I won't say perfectly copyable, but
copyable stations that were down in the grass
that did not show themselves above the general
hash at the bottom of the screen any more
than just the noise was. It didn't point anything
out, it didn't provide any new information.
Again, this is just the band scope thing, but
like I said, it was great PR. Now, if you're
in a band, I won't say no experience on six,
but I have the next best thing to know experience
on six. Now, in a band like six or ten, which
comes and goes, and... activity that you
don't know about and you're not necessarily
scanning your VFO up and down the band, it
may be useful to say, oh, there's some activity
down here that I didn't know about. So you
go dial, dial, dial, and you see them and hear
them and you can work them. In that case,
the band scope I think would be useful in
a sparse band when you're waiting for things
to pop up. In a crowded band, it's just a
zoo. It's just grass on the screen. from what
I can see. you know, it's like Scott said,
it would be nice to have, but as far as enhancing
operation, especially with the band scope,
it depends on what you're doing and what band
you're on. Back to NET, NA-3CW. Very good.
Excellent. All the way around. Great, great
questions and great answers here and great comments.
Final comments for Tim. This is WA3VE.
KC3WWC. WCWA3VE, go ahead John.
My little HF radio here has a pretty big screen.
It's mostly screen. And they'll be sitting
there on all the time. And I use the waterfall
a lot because I'm not necessarily paying attention
to it, but I can glance over and see the CW
band on fire. You know, I know I'm like, oh,
there's some kind of contest. I should go listening.
You know, I should tune around a little bit
and listen to some CW. It's cool for just monitoring,
I think. And it helps. zero in on a signal
real fast if you're scrolling around. Back to
you.
Very good. Excellent. Tim, KD3AIS, do we answer
your question? WA3VE.
Yes, Ron, everybody did and thank you very much
for all the feedback. And I think my, would
just say I have, normally have my radio on with
the volume all the way down because I have
it at my desk when I'm working during the day.
And so maybe I've developed a lazy habit to
watch that waterfall to see when somebody's
talking. But that said, I think my takeaway
from this, this is great. limit on my tendency
to just go out and buy something. And I think
my takeaway from this is to maybe my time is
better spent rather than driving down to HRO
and buying a screen or buying a different radio
to actually study for the general exam and
pass it. So thank you to the NET. This is
KD3AIS back to WA3VE. Very, very good. Is
there anyone else with a question out there
who's checked in already? WA3VE, last call
for questions.
Before we close down the workbench for the
evening, let's see if we have anyone else
who wants to check in. So if you've been listening
or just tuned in, we'd like to hear from you.
Last call for check-ins just to get on the
log. W-A-3-V-E-E.
Hey Ron, W3MFB. I did have a question real
quick and you can answer it very quickly. Go
ahead Mike, W3MFB, WA3VEA.
Thank you very much. Real quick question. Up
at the Field Day site, hey, is that a six meter
and two meter beam up there all the time for
use?
Who wants to answer Mike's question about the
6 and 2 meter beam? This is WA3VEA.
Chuck, go ahead, A3CW, WA3VE.
I'm not speaking for George, but I think as
long as it's up, it's available. The only
issue is you'll have to put coax on it because
there's no coax on either of those antennas
right now.
Very good. Mike, back to you. W3MSB WA3VE. Go
ahead.
Alright, thank you very much Chuck and that
answers the question, no problem. Alright,
I appreciate it. Thank you. W3MFB. Excellent,
very, very good. Thanks to all stations tonight
for checking into the 985 workbench. And a big
thank you to Joe, W3GMS, for making the 985
repeater available for the workbench. You are
invited to use the repeater often. It's a great
way to show that you appreciate the gift of
985 to the amateur radio community. Finally,
we hope to hear you again on Thursday evening
at 8 p.m. during the 985 roundtable. This concludes
the workbench for tonight. Feel free to stick
around and continue the discussion on 985 if
you like. Have a good night. Great week ahead.
73, this is W3, WA3. VEE, I'll be clear. And
QRT.