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Once the Hustler 4BTV was up it was time to see if laying the radials, burying the coax and putting the antenna mount in concrete was all worth it. The SWR checks are next, kinda the "where the rubber meets the road" In the Hustler manual as well as the DX Engineering manual basic setup measurements are given to get you started with the antenna. In the DX Engineering manual, you are informed that these measurements are based on a no radial setup. For this reason, don't be alarmed at the resonant frequency most likely will be where you don't want it.

This is not an issue as you can adjust the traps to remedy this situation. The Hustler manual informs owners that trap adjustment voids the warranty with Hustler, BUT if you purchase your Hustler vertical from DX Engineering they will still honour the warranty. I purchased my antenna in Canada and I decided to adjust the traps and take my chances. I did read the manual very carefully regarding trap adjustment and it's no big deal to do.
One BIG advantage in regards to checking and adjusting the SWR is to have an antenna analyzer. It will save you time and frustration. I have the MFJ 259B an older unit but it works great, it does not give me a sweep graphical view but I can easily plot the SWR by checking the SWR at certain frequencies. I do have the Funk Amateur FA-VA4 but for the life of me I just can't figure out how to work it.
With the antenna analyzer connected I was pleased with the rough results, below are the rough readings:

10 meters 

            28.000 1.1 to 28.900 SWR 1.2

For this reason, 10m was not touched. 

15 meters

             21.897 SWR 2.0
             21.426 SWR 1:3
             21.116 SWR 2.0 

From the above SWR numbers, the 15m trap has to be lengthened. 

20 meter 

            13.711 SWR 2.0
            13.997 SWR 1.3
            14.222 SWR 2.0

From the above SWR, the 20m trap also has to be lengthened. Before this is done the manual advises that first double check the 20m SWR after adjusting the 15m trap. 

40 meters

              6.982 SWR 2.0
              7.050 SWR 1.8
              7.168 SWR 2.0

 With the 4BTV there is no 40m trap to adjust but I can in this case make the final section of the antenna longer. Again I have to recheck this SWR when the 15m trap is adjusted and if the 20m trap still needs adjusting I have to check 40m again before any section adjustment is made.
Before any adjustments are made to any trap it is advised to mark on the tubing the factor position of the trap just in case you have to start all over again. With each of the 3 traps marked to the factor position, I proceeded to adjust the 15meter trap and make it longer. Longer meaning between 1/16 to 1/8 longer (or shorter if needed) I had to make 2 adjustments to the 15m trap to get my desired results.  I mainly use CW and and now and again FT8, therefore I wanted my best SWR results between 21.000-21.100. 

Below is the final results.

 21.000 SWR1.4 

 21.060 SWR 1.3

 21.100 SWR 1.4 

I then looked at 10 meters and it had not changed at all.

28.000 1.1 SWR

28.150 1.1 SWR

28.190 1.1 SWR

I then checked the 20m section of the band with the antenna analyzer and was very pleased to see that now no trap adjustment was needed. Below are the final results for 20 meters. 

14.000 SWR 1.1

14.030 SWR 1.3

14.100 SWR 1.4

I was not as fortunate with 40 meters the new SWR after adjusting the 15m trap was:

      6.976 SWR 2.0
      7.013 SWR 1.8
      7.219 SWR 2.0

The final section of the mast has to be made longer and one of my concerns was, is this going to mess around with the 10,15 and 20m SWR? I did not have too much extra length to play with in the final section. I ended up stopping when I had about 1.5 inches of tubing inside the lower mast section. I did not want to take any more out. Below are my final results for 40 meters. 

7.000 SWR 2.0

7.025 SWR 1.9

7.073 SWR 1.8

7.106 SWR 1.9

As always I was up early today, the house very quiet only to be interrupted by the coffee bean grinder swirling beans into a brew mixture. The temperature this morning was a nice 14C (57F) and rising to 30C (86) and then the humidity on top of that. According to the weatherman, this is going to be the trend for the next few weeks. The dog days of summer are here! 

With coffee in hand, I made my way down the hall to the radio room to look for life on the bands. Space weather indicated K index of 3 but the solar flux was topping out at 173, very nice to see this high flux numbers. I tried 20m looking for a faint sign of CW life but the only sign of life there was the Digi section of the band. As I write I will continue to glance to my right and see if the band scope shows any hope. 

Last evening I joined in the K1USN slow speed contest or SST for short. The contest is an hour long and the local time for it here in the Maritimes is 5-6 pm or 20:00-21:00 UTC. I was calling CQ SST between 16-18 WPM and made 13 contacts. Not bad for July when most are on holiday or the summer sunshine calls them to home projects or just relax outdoors.

Well it seems 20m is beginning to show some signs of life as I bring this post to an end. 

Hello and welcome to Episode 474 of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this short-topics episode, the hosts discuss the utility of electrostatic discharge protection, the continued relevance of Field Day, the next QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo, Microsoft and its impact on Open Source, the Software Freedom Conservancy, WSJT-X and much more. Thank you for tuning in. We hope you have a great week.

73 de The LHS Crew

This past weekend the IARU world contest was in action and I planned to enter the CW category. The contest morning started just fine for me BUT in the corner of my radio room, a boxed Hustler 4BTV was calling my name. The weather outside was great, the mounting base was installed and the ground radials (all 30 of them) were also installed. As I was making CW contacts my mind at the same time was spinning. The weather here has been sunny and clear for very few days and the upcoming week looked once again rainy. The same little voice in my head was telling me " Mike a contest situation is great for testing a new antenna"
Well, a few hours into the contest I jumped off the operating chair and decided it was time to finish the 4BTV install! The little voice in my head had won out. Just the day before I had marked the antenna tubing with the rough measurements for length setup between sections. The only thing left was to put the section together and tighten things down with the provided screw clamps or as I call them hose clamps.

Copper paste

I did purchase copper paste to use on the pipe-to-pipe connection for good connectivity and help stop corrosion. In no time the antenna was together and ready to be mounted on the ground pipe. I was delighted with how light this antenna is, making it easy to lift and install.
The initial SWR was somewhat close to what was written in the DX Engineering manual, there was just some fine-tuning that needed to be done. I wanted my configuration to be in the CW area of the bands. Thank goodness I have an antenna analyzer, this made very short work of fine-tuning the antenna. I will make another post regarding the details of the SWR and adjustments.
Once the antenna was set up SWR-wise in the area of the bands it was

Marking the antenna sections

off to the contest again to see how it stacks up to the Endfed antenna I have been using for 2 1/2 years. Using the new antenna I started calling (CWing) "CQ CONTEST" and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. Now having said that this was the first time using the antenna so a fair comparison would be over the course of a month or so with varying propagation conditions. 

More to come regarding tuning, assembly and results.

August 5 to 8, 2022
Friday to Monday
www.ham14er.org

Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing many of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains and Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks to set up amateur radio stations in an effort to communicate with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in on the fun during the annual event and see how many of the mountaintop stations you can contact. Be aware that many mountaintop activators will hit the trail early with the goal of being off the summits by noon due to lightning safety concerns.

This event is normally held the first full weekend in August. Following up on the success of the 10-day W0C SOTA event in 2021, in 2022 we will add two bonus days to the Colorado 14er Event. The main two days remain Saturday and Sunday (Aug 6 & 7), while the bonus days are Friday Aug 5 and Monday Aug 8th, for those SOTA enthusiasts that need more than two days of SOTA fun!

The 14er event includes Summits On the Air (SOTA) peaks, which includes over 1800 summits! If you aren’t up to climbing a 14er, there are many other summits to choose from (with a wide range of difficulty). See the W0C SOTA web page at w0c-sota.org.

Important: The recommended 2m FM frequencies have been changed to 146.58, 146.55, and 146.49 MHz, to align with the use of the North America Adventure Frequency for SOTA (146.58). The National Simplex Calling Frequency (146.52) may be used as appropriate. See the operating frequencies page.

See the very cool Colorado 14er Event gear available at https://www.cafepress.com/mtngoatwear

Radio operators who plan to activate a summit should post their intent on the ham14er group via the ham14er groups.io website. Also, be sure to check out the event information at http://www.ham14er.org

For a complete list of suggested HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies see this web page.

And there is more!

On the same weekend, SOTA enthusiasts in Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon will activate summits for the Pacific Northwest Not-Quite-Fourteener (PNW-NQF) event. Also on the same weekend, the Southern California SOTA group will hold their SOCAL SOTAFEST. So there will be plenty of SOTA stations to work that weekend.

Warning: Climbing mountains is inherently a dangerous activity.
Do not attempt this without proper training, equipment and preparation.

Sponsored by The Colorado 14er Event Task Force

The post 2022 Colorado 14er Event (Summits On The Air) appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

 Come show us yours... 

Many Amateur Radio licensees have home stations where the hobby is practiced for fun, contacting similar stations all over the globe, but the hobby has a serious side as well. We provide emergency communications where all other systems, such as cell phones or even radio towers fail. Many of us have mobile stations (in compliance with distracted driving regulations) that permit us to operate wherever and whenever. Mobile Amateur Radio is not restricted to cars and trucks but bicycles, even pedestrians and equestrians. This type of broad-based community availability requires no commercial infrastructure, hence the slogan: “ Amateur Radio works when all else fails”. This has been shown time and again all over the world.

SEPAR would like to host a first ever event of its kind locally. We have a commitment from the Surrey Fire Service and I expect that support from our contacts at the Surrey RCMP (or Surrey Police Service)  to judge the entries.  Prizes will be awarded for the neatest installation and the most bands covered.

The idea for this local event originated with the Portage County Amateur Radio Service (PCARS), a Wisconsin group who have been doing the Mobile Cruise-In for twelve consecutive years.  Their turnout varies with the weather, but in past years they've had 50 or more entries. In addition to the entrants and Amateur Radio spectators, we welcome members of the public to stop by and check out the goings on. They say that it's a great way to generate some exposure for Amateur Radio and our emergency programs.

We appreciate the support of the A&W restaurant at that location but, if you are not an A&W fan, there are several other refreshment options adjoining the same large parking lot.

So polish up your mobile rig, dust off your Grab ‘n Go kit and come show it off at  the ‘Cruise-In’

August 25: The post event video is now available at: https://youtu.be/VxwvYtPwaGU 

It's time once again for The Weekender. This is our departure into the world of hedonism, random topic excursions, whimsy and (hopefully) knowledge. Thanks for listening and, if you happen to get a chance, feel free to call us or e-mail and send us some feedback. Tell us how we're doing. We'd love to hear from you.

73 de The LHS Crew