I recently finished some antenna repair work. One HF vertical was repaired and retuned to 10m and a 2m/70cm dual band yagi was also repaired and put into service. Temps were 33 degrees although it was nicer to make the repairs in that heat rather then the next day's forecast 36 degrees.
My new QSL cards from Gennady - UX5UO have arrived. First cab off the rank was a return QSL to Peter DE9JLX.
I picked up a new to me YouKits TJ2B last weekend. I liked these some years ago but it seems YouKits are no more and have been overtaken by other SDR radios from the likes of Xiegu and others. Renowned for poor speaker volume this one was beyond a joke as you needed headphones to hear anything coming out of it. In hindsight it was a gamble as I could not tell if the speaker was the issue or if the receive section was deaf.
After taking it apart and doing some research I found a section in the TJ2B build instructions on this being an issue caused by cold solder joints on the mini transformers T1, T2, and T3. Problem was that the build instructions were for an older model and the PCB was different. I reflowed them anyway and problem solved with an actual sound coming out of the speaker for a change. I then proceeded to stuff up the assembly 4 times and could not understand why I did not have access to all of the tuning options. Well after taking it apart again I finally noticed I had put a screw through the ribbon cable from the main tune control. With that repaired, normal service was restored and receive was fine. It currently puts out a 3W carrier and I have no confirmed contacts with it yet even with local hams assisting in testing. We can hear each other but signal is so low as to be unintelligible and barely even able to tell when the over has ended. More testing to come.
After spending a week playing around with making a loaded vertical for 20m I finally admitted defeat when the best I could do was move resonance from 25Mhz down to 18Mhz but no further. At that stage I remembered the EFHW from BH7JYR I had purchased and forgotten about. I was happy to see it was a quad band with 7, 14, 21, and 28Mhz. Bit of messing around (and a lick of sunburn) and we're on the air on 20m and making the trip to France (F5MSE - Thierry) and New Zealand (ZL2ML - Caleb) and receiving 57/56 signal reports using 50watts. Happy Days.
Well I was just about to start collecting some contacts for my advanced VK4ARA callsign (nothing in the logbook) when priorities changed and I am now the new holder of VK4ER. VK4ARA will be released back into the pool.
Previous holders of the VK4ER callsign have included Bob Lees, and Eric Reilly. Thank you gents.
My Mobile install in the Alfa is finally finished, ICOM IC-2730a is programmed, wiring is tidied up, and the ICOM IC-440 is configured. Now to use it on the way in and out of work.
Today I was assigned AI7FR as my extra class call sign. Woohoo!!! Onwards to the Aussie advanced call sign.
After about 6 weeks of study, today I sat my Technician, Standard, and Extra class exams all one after the other. And I passed. Now to see what callsign I receive. Be sitting my aussie regs exam soon and onwards to the advanced licence.
Biggest change in the shack has been the peace and quiet following the replacement of a droning power supply fan. Ah the serenity!
First blood for the Xiegu G90, 3462kms with 10 watts on 40m from Brisbane to Jason, VK6YTS in Gundaring, WA.
A little bit of work on the second mast with my DIY UHF beam replaced with a VHF-UHF beam and the HF vertical was straightened. Still waiting on the EFHW to arrive.
It took 2 days to program this thing but I only really twigged where I was going wrong when VK4MGC explained the need to program a channel for each talk group on each repeater. 😲😲😲. The HD1 works fine, nice quality and performance. I have a Kenwood clip and Motorola antenna on the way for it but for now I'm liking it.
The DMR Handheld is here along with the FT-891, and the 2m/70cm Yagi. Just waiting on the 40m EFHW. I love taking the plastic off new radios, some don't but I do.........
I've got 2 radios and 2 antennas on the way and apparently all I need is just a little patience.....
It would seem my DIY skills are not all that flash as my DIY 477MHz Yagi is resonant on 1.36GHz........ Looks like it is destined for the bin!
On a more positive note the 11M Vertical is 1.2 on channel 35, with no tuning on the antenna and no tuner in front of the rig. Caught lightning in the bottle with that setup!
Making steady progress with the HF vertical and Yagi up on the second mast and wired. Still needs to be tuned and the HF vertical straightened, and coax run into the shack. 3 new antenna switches arrived and getting ready for the rewire inside. Still waiting on the 40m EFHW.
