Ron Guest

Yesterday a drive in the country, today we started a jigsaw puzzle.

Note: the table we use came via my grandparents. I estimate it is around 80 years old. The top isn’t painted it is a printed image applied to the wood.

The typical rubber ducky and whip antennas included with VHF/UHF handheld transceivers (see previous post here) are inherently inefficient and perform even worse when used indoors, often to the point of being useless. They are generally also limited to 5W of transmit power. For repeater and simplex operation indoors at a minimum an external antenna is needed and a bit more power is helpful as well. For this reason a typical next step for a new ham, after a handheld, is to get a mobile transceiver and install an antenna. Mobile transceivers are commonly used as basestation radios but are also useful when mobile in cars as well as for portable operation during emergencies or just when having fun in a park.

Although I gave a little consideration to an ICOM mobile radio I pretty quickly settled on an inexpensive Yaesu model, the FTM-7250, as it generally has more features for the price and includes a digital mode called C4FM with WIRES-X. More on this digital mode in a later post but a cool benefit is the ability to talk to other radio users anywhere in the world.

I spent a lot more time determining what antenna to get because, frankly, the antenna is more important than the radio. VHF/UHF antennas range from cheap to very expensive and from small to quite large and complex. In multiple instances I’ve seen that objective values show that the more complex antennas actually perform worse. So after many hours digging up data I decided to go with a DBJ-1 J-pole made by Dr. Fong. He is well known for his antenna and RF research and has published a number of papers on the subject of VHF/UHF antennas. He created a simple operation to sell antennas at-cost with the proceeds going to support his students. Once I had narrowed down my choice I emailed him about my purchase and in our email exchanges he proved to be extremely helpful and kind. I consider myself fortunate to have seen a live presentation by him on antenna design, delivered via Skype from his home, a couple of weeks ago. He explained things in simple language and even hams of long experience learned more about antenna design.

The J-Pole is installed in our attic with a coax run to my study. An outdoor installation would perform better but isn’t allowed by our HOA. My setup is more than sufficient to talk on the local repeaters using only 5W or 10W (the Yaesu can use up to 50W when needed). I’m happy with both the radio and antenna and have no plans for changes. And I’m enjoying talking to local operators.

Next post: My first HF radio

We did our weekly grocery shopping today. TP is not in short supply here but I did see a sign saying limit 2 multi-packs per person. I’m glad to see folks aren’t hoarding. And hopefully they’re prepared.

It may be tiny but is a welcome harbinger of spring. 📷 🌸

The flower is barely bigger than my thumb.

In early February the FCC issued my Technician license and I received my General license a couple of weeks later. I dove into operating with both feet so I am creating a series of posts to document my journey. This first post explains my initial setup for VHF/UHF repeater and simplex operation.

As soon as I passed my Technician exam I - like most everyone - was in a hurry to get my hands on a radio and get on the air. And like most I decided to start with a handheld radio. These are self-contained transceivers with respect to both power and an antenna. When seeking advice on what to buy there were two primary schools of thought. One said to buy a Baofeng radio because, although they perform poorly and are difficult to program, they are very inexpensive. A lot of people consider them throw-away buys and are happy with these as a start.

I took the second recommend route which was to start with something that performs better and is more reliable and hence would be something I could use in the long term for Skywarn, emergency comms and public event support. I specifically chose the Yaesu FT-60R. It is an older design but works very well and has a great reputation. Unlike Baofeng, Yaesu has a long track record of investing in R&D to advance radio technology and I was happy to support their commitment.

So far I’m content with my decision but I would have purchased the Yaesu FT-70DR instead. It costs only slightly more but brings digital voice encoding which turns out to be quite useful. And the System Fusion feature in that radio allows communication across the country, even the world. Unfortunately I let some FUD proffered by a few discourage me from valuing digital mode.

Next post in the series: my base station setup for VHF/UHF

Someone who glanced in our pantry might think we have laid in dry soup supplies for a quarantine or zombie invasion or whatever. But nope, this is our standard supply About 8 different kinds. The Nongshim hot & spicy, topped with an egg, is my fave. 📷 🍜
// @burk

Someone who glanced in our pantry might think we have laid in dry soup supplies for a quarantine or zombie invasion or whatever. But nope, this is our standard supply About 8 different kinds. The Nongshim hot & spicy, topped with an egg, is my fave. 📷 🍜

The sun is trying its best but it’s not good enough.
☀️ 📷

I got a new toy yesterday. It’s waiting patiently on my desk for me to run a coax to the attic and install a dipole. Hopefully tomorrow.

If quarantines spread I guess ARES will be activated. Tonight’s practice could turn real pretty fast.

Angry eyes

Sometimes squinting helps your vision? 📷

Children are naturals when it comes to taking a leap of faith 📷

These came from below, rose to our lips, and slipped silently down again. 📷

They escaped by managing their emotions together. 📷

That time we escaped to Iowa… and loved it! 📷

Our son’s morning hurdle - a double Freunectomy. He was pretty nervous but it went fine. He is kind of excited because he’ll miss his first day of school in a couple of years. 📷

I was seeing double when the stickers arrived.

Our dog at her watch station, keeping an eye out the window from our window seat. 🐕 📷

Spectacle 👓 📷

Progress on my long term effort to lose weight and improve my health

Time for my Skywarn training update. The season will start soon. ⛈

For some reason I always think this building has scales on the outside.

There is a lot of outdoor open space at the district’s new STEAM center. It feels very peaceful - until a bunch of high schoolers show up 😉

Who could ever oppose Redemption? 📷 🥃

If you look carefully at the left photo you’ll notice a snake curled and coming down the tree trunk. I’ve highlighted the path in the right photo. I thought this rather cool because it isn’t a typical vine. I’m not really sure how this came to be. 🐍 📷

Not much rest today, up before dawn.

✅ I repaired our front porch light which involved gymnastics to avoid many needle-like sticks by the prickly shrub underneath ✅ I ran a coax for my antenna thru the 1st floor in a “not ugly” way. Now to get it to the 2nd floor and attic
📷