First QSO today.

[TNFrank]

I managed to actually get a couple QSO's today even with my bad SWR. First one was in Missouri on 28.400MHz/USB and the 2nd was in B.C. Canada on 28.345MHz/USB.  This HF stuff really is awesome. To make contacts that far away Simplex with my kind of crappy little dipole antenna(antenna tuner incoming tomorrow to sort out SWR) is really amazing to me.  This is way more fun than 2M/70cm IMHO. Anyway, just wanted to share the good news. 73

[SteveShannon]

19 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

I managed to actually get a couple QSO's today even with my bad SWR. First one was in Missouri on 28.400MHz/USB and the 2nd was in B.C. Canada on 28.345MHz/USB.  This HF stuff really is awesome. To make contacts that far away Simplex with my kind of crappy little dipole antenna(antenna tuner incoming tomorrow to sort out SWR) is really amazing to me.  This is way more fun than 2M/70cm IMHO. Anyway, just wanted to share the good news. 73

Good job!!

[TNFrank]

I'm really lovin' this HF stuff.  I might even try for my General sometime in the future but for now I'm just going to have some fun with 10M SSB 28.3-28.5MHz.

[SteveShannon]

1 minute ago, TNFrank said:

I'm really lovin' this HF stuff.  I might even try for my General sometime in the future but for now I'm just going to have some fun with 10M SSB 28.3-28.5MHz.

There’s nothing wrong with that!!  It’s great that you are enjoying yourself!

[GreggInFL]

This is a conspiracy. You guys are trying to get me motivated to take a test, aren't you? I can tell. Admit it.

[TNFrank]

The Technician Test wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be. With my Electronics Tech background the electrical part was easy. I just had to study for all the Rules/Regs and general questions about HAM. I guess I need to go on HamStudy.org and see what the questions look like for the General Test. 

[SteveShannon]

6 minutes ago, GreggInFL said:

This is a conspiracy. You guys are trying to get me motivated to take a test, aren't you? I can tell. Admit it.

Yes, I admit it!! Come to the dark side!!

[TNFrank]

Made another QSO to Vancouver B.C.. The way my antenna is oriented stretched East to West my propagation is going to be mostly North and South so it makes sense that I'm getting a lot of Canadian Contacts.  If I could change it to North to South then I'd give me more East to West Contacts but since my porch is the way it is and my antenna is attached to the porch it's East to West for now.  It's also only about 8 feet off the ground, if I could get it higher I'm sure I'd get a better signal out of it but again, that's as high as the porch is so I have to go with what I've got. 

[WRYZ926]

If you could get your dipole up higher and hang it as an inverted v then it would be more omni directional for you. And you don't have to go very high for a 10m dipole. Mine is only 22 feet above the ground at the center.

I know you have to work with what you have. But look into some type of sturdy mast to get it up in the air. Then you would need to tie the ends to points keeping the angle between 90-120 degrees for the V.

[TNFrank]

I'm in an HOA so no 22 feet for me. Across the porch is about the best I can do for now. I did get the 14 gauge wire in and cut it for the 1:1 balun and got my SWR down to 3:1 according to the meter on the radio. The tuner should bring it in the rest of the way. 

[WRYZ926]

I would still try to adjust the antenna to get the SWR lower. Don't rely so much on a tuner.

 

[SteveShannon]

2 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

I would still try to adjust the antenna to get the SWR lower. Don't rely so much on a tuner.

 

This!!!

[WRYZ926]

There are ways to get around HOA restrictions. You might have to consider different types of antennas. Again you will definitely want a NanoVNA or antenna analyzer to properly tune HF antennas. Unless your radio has a good SWR scope built in like the Xiegu and some Icom radios have.

[WRYS709]

50 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

Unless your radio has a good SWR scope built in like the Xiegu and some Icom radios have.

Does my Icom IC-705 have such a scope? My 7300?

[Northcutt114]

5 hours ago, GreggInFL said:

This is a conspiracy. You guys are trying to get me motivated to take a test, aren't you? I can tell. Admit it.

 

[Northcutt114]

5 hours ago, TNFrank said:

The Technician Test wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be. With my Electronics Tech background the electrical part was easy. I just had to study for all the Rules/Regs and general questions about HAM. I guess I need to go on HamStudy.org and see what the questions look like for the General Test. 

If you have a background in electronics, I'm sure it will be easier for you. The Tech test was easy. This General test? Hoo boy...

For example, this what the questions sound like to me: "What is the dingley dangley of a forward mounted reticulated whizz banger if current of eleventy billion milliamperes pass over a resistance modulated capacitor rated for your mom's ohms?"

Might as well be Greek to me. And I read Greek.

[Northcutt114]

1 hour ago, TNFrank said:

I'm in an HOA so no 22 feet for me. Across the porch is about the best I can do for now. I did get the 14 gauge wire in and cut it for the 1:1 balun and got my SWR down to 3:1 according to the meter on the radio. The tuner should bring it in the rest of the way. 

I'm an admitted neophyte but, wouldn't the gutters be higher? Or even the roof line? Seems you could attach or lay it out that way.

As others have said, tune the antenna. 3:1 on a wire antenna seems really high. I hear guys constantly saying that they are 1.1-1.3 tops.

 

[TNFrank]

I had a NanoVNA and returned it. I was using it to test the SWR of my HT antennas. I honestly found my Surecom SW-33 Plus easier to use.

Also remember, this is the SWR reading on my QT60 meter. I don't know how accurate it actually is. 

The 14 gauge wire is doing better than the 12 gauge wire. I tried to cut it to the length the dipole calculator said but it's not even close. I don't want to keep cutting it back because in other tests it didn't seem to make much of a difference. 

On a different note, with my new set-up I could use some stakes in the ground to run the wires to and make an inverted V if I wanted to. 

I might even see if I could use the PVC mast I made for my 2M/70cm vertical to mount the Balun so it'd be 12 or so feet in the air then stake the wires to make the inverted V. 

Lots of experimenting that I can play with to see what works best. 

[TNFrank]

1 hour ago, Northcutt114 said:

I'm an admitted neophyte but, wouldn't the gutters be higher? Or even the roof line? Seems you could attach or lay it out that way.

 

We don't have gutters here in Arizona. Also the way the roof is makes it next to impossible to mount anything higher than the overhang of the porch. 

Watch my Solar Lights video on my YouTube channel and you'll see what the back of the house looks like.

[SteveShannon]

5 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

I don't want to keep cutting it back because in other tests it didn't seem to make much of a difference. 

What do you have to lose?

5 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

 

I had a NanoVNA and returned it. I was using it to test the SWR of my HT antennas. I honestly found my Surecom SW-33 Plus easier to use.

 

Of course the SWR meter is easier to use. It only tells you about the frequency you’re using. The NanoVNA tells you about an entire range of frequencies. 
I agree that the NanoVNA is harder to use, especially if you try to navigate its screen based menus. Instead, learn to use a software program called “NanoVNA Saver”.  It makes using the uVNA much easier and more intuitive. 

[TNFrank]

1 minute ago, SteveShannon said:

What do you have to lose?

Wire.

[SteveShannon]

Just now, TNFrank said:

Wire.

It can always be soldered or crimped back on. 

[TNFrank]

17 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

It can always be soldered or crimped back on. 

My OCD would totally hate that. A nice, fresh piece of wire is the only way to go.

[WRYZ926]

2 hours ago, WRYS709 said:

Does my Icom IC-705 have such a scope? My 7300?

The 7300 has it but I don't know about the 705.

[SteveShannon]

2 hours ago, WRYS709 said:

Does my Icom IC-705 have such a scope? My 7300?

The 705 has the ability to do a sweep.  It’s usable, but not at pretty as an analyzer: