The Antenna is Finally in the Air

Well today we finally got the antenna in the air. Last week we put it all together and made a valiant effort to try and get it in the air but failed miserably. The odds were against us as the wind was blowing something fierce, and we ended up losing one arrow in the tree and the other lost its notch.

So today, we tried again. This time we had a different plan. Instead of bow and arrow, we opted for a sling shot and a 3oz. fishing weight. Our first few attempts were for naught. The weight was too big and kept getting caught on the sling once it was release. So we decided to cut the thing in half. Once we did that we started having better results. Unfortunately, where we originally wanted to put it on one side was too tall for us to achieve. So we opted for a bit shorter beech tree. By doing this we no longer has a need to run a support rope or pulley system as before this we were going to run it up in a tall pine tree.

Well after a couple of attempts we finally had the short side up in the tree and it was time to trek to the other side. This one was more than we bargained for. Getting the rope up in the old oak tree up the ridge wasn't the problem. The problem came when we tried to raise the antenna. We found that as we raised it the long side was going to get hung up on a branch of a dogwood tree and there was no way to guide the wire out from under it. With this in mind we only had one option... Chop It Down. I trekked back down the ridge to get the ax and the saw. 2 blisters and a bruised thumb later, we had the dogwood hewed and the antenna up in the air. The battle was won with the exception of running the coax into the house and connect it to the radio.

With daylight, strength, and energy waning rapidly, we decided it was time for some dinner before finishing our small war. So we ran out to Cap'n D's for some fish and brought it back to the house. We filled ourselves on fries, fish, and hush puppies and decided it was time to put a hole in the floor. We had originally planned to connect the coax running from the antenna to the house into a lightning arrestor, and take a second run of coax on into the house. This would have required us to put another hole in the house and to find screws to mount the arrestor to the house as well. So instead we ran the one run in through the garage door in th basement, into the crawl space under the shack and up through the floor until such time comes when we have screws for the arrestor and enough motivation to put a new hole in the house.

It wasn't long before we had our Windom connected to the radio and were ready to see how it performed. On 80 meters, the SWR is pretty good up to about the DX Window. after that the tuner needs to be used and past 3.900 MHz we have to cut the power back a bit. On 40 meters the antenna is mostly flat. On 20 it is completely flat without a tuner. same on 10. The only band it won't even tune on is 15 meters. Other than that, it does quite well for a multi bander that's supposed to work 80 - 2. So far I've made about 5 contacts with it and one of those were to the Bahamas. All reports have been 5-9 except the Bahamas reported 5-7. So I can't complain considering we can only run 100 watts at this time.

So we accomplished what we set out to do, with a few exceptions of course. In the end the result was good. We are finally on the air and that's all that matters. Stay tuned and I will get some pictures posted in the next couple of days or so. Anyway, many thanks go out to dad (KU4ME) for helping us out tremendously in this project and to the XYL Robin (AJ4IJ) for all her hard work too.

Till next time, 73 and Good DX.
AJ4JD Tim

Playing Catch Up

I know it's been a while since my last entry so let me play a little catch up. January has been a busy month and to be honest I haven't done a whole lot of radioing. What radioing I have done has been on 2 meters, checking into the different nets and the occasional QSO here and there. We attended the Morristown hamfest a couple of weeks ago where we bought all the wire we needed to build our own Windom antenna to put in the backyard. We bought a 100' of RG-8, 25' of RG-213, 140' or so of some 13 awg copper wire, some PL-259 connectors, and a couple of dog bones insulators. While at the hamfest, Robin (AJ4IJ) won a major award... a 2008-2009 ARRL repeater directory. That's the first time any of us has won a prize at a hamfest. We all thought that was pretty neat.

Since the hamfest, we've purchased a 4:1 balun from The Wireman, some thimbles, and we are still waiting on an I.C.E. lightning arrestor to arrive. Once that gets here, we will have everything we need to build and raise our antenna, and bring our HF radio home. Yes we finally purchased an HF rig. What did we purchase you ask? Well, we got a great deal on an ICOM IC-756 Pro. Gotta love the fish finder on that rig. It's been over at Dads(KU4ME) ever since. It works quite well and has great audio. I can't wait to get it over here and get on the air to see how we do with the Windom.

What else has been happening, well last weekend Robin and I went to take our EmComm level 1 and 2 tests. We passed with flying colors and are now EmComm 1 & 2 certified. We await our certificates. With me passing the EmComm tests, I have officially been appointed as EC for Union County ARES here in Tennessee. Up until now, Claiborne County has been taking care of our counties needs when it comes to emergency communications. We have quite a bit of work to do to get the ball rolling but look forward to get an Amateur Radio presence going on in our county. There are several hams in our county so we have a good base to recruit from.
Anyway, that's all I have for the time being, until next time...

Good DX and Happy Contesting
73 de AJ4JD
Tim

Happy New Year to all HAMs

Seeings how this is a new year now, I thought I would wish ever one a Happy New Year and hope that it brings much fortune, as well as many hopes and blessings. 2008 was a good year for me and my family personally. I got involved in Ham Radio this past year, having earned my ticket in May and worked up to Extra by July. Since then I became a member of the Claiborne/Union County ARES and look to be appointed EC of Union County sometime this month. I became a certified storm spotter along with the rest of the family (Robin - AJ4IJ, Ashby - KJ4EGJ, Mom - KF4SSI and Dad - KU4ME). We attended a few hamfests (Knoxville, Waynesville, and TenTec). We worked several special events (The Smithsonian Institute, The FBI, Collins Radio 50th anniversary of their S-Line radios, just to name a few, and we even called CQ for the 470 ARG 1st anniversary special event as W4H). We participated in a few contests (IARU HF Championship, NAQP, TNQP, and the PSK31/63 Deathmatch, speaking of which I placed 26th in the Medium Power Category). Finally, to cap off the year we finally purchased our very own HF rig (an ICOM 756 Pro). Those were the highlights of 2008 not to mention all the great HAMs we have had the pleasure of getting to know and meet at different times and occasions like the All Hams picnics held by Jack and Teresa (KD4TNY and KI4ZQO), and we are looking for many more highlights in 2009.

To start the year off right in 2009 we plan on attending the Morristown Hamfest tomorrow. We are hoping to find some deals on parts to put up a Windom so we can bring our HF rig home and get on the air. The rig is currently over at Dads as he has a couple of HF antennas up already and we needed a place to test the radio out before we bought it. This weekend is Kids Day, a chance for youngsters (HAM or not) to get on the HF bands and make contact with other HAMs (young and old) and get to know what HAM radio is all about. I think we will try and get Ashby over to dad's to make a few contacts. The weekend after next is the 1st North American QSO Party of the year. If everything works out okay I'm hoping to work the contest so if you hear me calling CQ, call back.

Yes 2009 definitely brings promise on it's wings and hope for many great things. Maybe this year I will earn the WAS, and WAC awards. I should also obtain EmComm levels I & II along with several ISO certifications in preparation of becoming EC for Union County ARES. There will also be several contests to participate in and hopefully, with any luck, any of us may have a great showing. So to all the HAMs out there, Happy New Year and may 2009 bring you the best DX, best contesting and many achieved milestones.

Best of 73 and good DX to all
de AJ4JD
Tim

And to the Death it was...

The Death Match is over. Final results 147 QSOs and 80+ multipliers. Congrats to all who participated and good luck with the results. Thank you to all the contacts and to the Michigan DX Association for such a fun contest.

73 and God Bless,
AJ4JD
Tim

The Battle Rages On...

The PSK31/63 Death Match continued today. We headed over to dad's (KU4ME) to work the match to the death. We got over there around 3:30 and promptly started working 20 meters. I made a handful of contacts there and then it was to 40 for a few and finally on 80 to work many more. Of course, in the middle of all this death matching, one gets hungry. After all, all the battling can make one ravenous. So wifey (AJ4IJ aka my trusty log lady) and I took a break for a dinner date. We had intentionally skipped out on my company's Christmas party and we had opted instead for treating ourselves to a night out on our own.
So we went to eat at the Outback as we had received a gift card from my brother for Christmas. Once we were done we drove around, stopped and got some Starbucks (necessary fuel for contesting), picked up something to eat for the harmonic (KJ4EGJ), and headed back for more. For another four hours I worked while Robin logged and by a little after 2am, the century mark was reached. We called it quits for the night only to rest and recuperate so we could battle erm.. I mean contest some more tomorrow.
So if you are contesting look for me on 20, 40, and 80. Till then,

73 and God Bless de AJ4JD,
Tim