Simple Ham Radio Antennas

The weekend is fast upon us.  Hopefully, that means a reduced newsroom schedule and an early voyage home to the amateur radio station.  After this week of economic doom and gloom, I need a break to recharge the ole batteries.  There's so much negativity one can take, especially with those supposedly in charge totally clueless as to what to do.  Anyway, if my amateur radio station falls short, I have no one to blame but myself.  I'm looking forward to a few hours of conversation, DX, and antenna work over the weekend. The ARRL Field Day is coming the weekend of 25/26 June and thousands of ham operators will take to the "field" in one of the largest emergency communications events conducted in North America.  The event combines contest, emergency communications, and survival aspects into one frantic weekend.  Nothing goes totally according to plan, and that's part of the allure of Field Day.  Because of work requirements, my participation with the Big Island Amate

Now that the Memorial Day festivities are over, it's time return to the "real" world and all of its troubles.  For a newsperson, strife and uncertainty are the basis of continuing employment.  Sad to say, good news really doesn't amount to much in world focused on immediate gratification, irresponsibility, and power.  I suppose this trend is not new--human foibles have been used for centuries to advance all kinds of political, social, and religious agendas.  Once in a while, I will include a humorous "kicker" in some of my newscasts to break the doom and gloom that seems to dominate the current news scene.  After shifting through 10 to 12 hours worth of generally negative stories, it's a real pleasure to run into an uplifting tale.  I ran across such a story when I read an ariticle by Jim Key (NT2 F) entitled "Q signals for Baby Boomers".  The story can be found in the 02 June 2011 edition of eham.net.  I enjoyed the article, although some of

Today is Memorial Day--a time to remember those who paid the ultimate price for our nation.  Despite a full weekend of drag races and other holiday events that kept our radio station staff busy, I welcomed a return to the news room this morning. This time gave me a chance to grace my newscasts with some heartfelt thanks to veterans and their families for their service to this still great country.  Like many vets, I don't care to share war stories...some memories are best forgotten.  I was fortunate to return alive with most of my faculties intact.  Others were not so lucky.  The tie between my service and amateur radio goes back some 40 years or more when many of us stationed in remote, deservedly forgotten areas of the world kept in touch with our families through MARS stations.  Those were the days before e-mail, skype, iPhones, or any other high tech communications marvels.  I owe a debt of gratitude to those MARS operators who kept us sane in a world gone crazy.  Perhaps the be

There remain only a few hours until the busy Memorial Day weekend breaks on Hawaii Island shores.  For those of us at KKBG-FM and KHLO-AM, the next few days will busy and filled with remote broadcasts, outrigger canoe races, the Honokaa Western Days Rodeo, and the traditional drag races at the Hilo Drag Strip.  By the time our staff reaches Monday, all of us should be tired, talked out, and ready for a vocal cord transplant.  My weekend will be spent in the track tower announcing the pro-gas and ET bracket races and sending live updates back to the station.  Although the next few days will be intense, the time away from the newsroom will give me a break of sorts from the usual panic of world events.  For the briefest of moments all of us at the track will be only concerned with elapsed times and getting closest to our indices (pro-gas).  Radio plays a huge role in coordinating and facilitating the complicated series of events that make a smooth running race.  All key personal (tower, s

With Memorial Day weekend fast upon us, activity in the news room will surely be hectic.  The radio station is tied up with a variety of remote broadcasts, including the traditional Memorial Day weekend drag races (I have the job of tower announcer) and the Moku O Hawaii Outrigger Canoe Races in Kailua-Kona.  Both of these events won't leave much time to chase down DX or to ragchew with the locals.  At least the racing calendar will keep the weekend full and will provide a break from the normal news cycle.  Some other station members will be working at the Honokaa weekend rodeo, so this weekend won't allow for any slack time.  If I can get home early on Sunday, I may try an hour or two of ham radio. Presently, I'm in the process of redoing my "antenna farm" in the back yard.  Stringing radials for the 40-meter vertical has always been a compromise affair considering the small lot I call home.  This time around, I will return to the inverted "v" arrange

In between a few jobs around the QTH over the weekend, I ran across an article in the eham.net website concerning the "Maxcomm Automatic Antenna Tuner".  The reviews of this product ranged from "0" to "5" depending on the experience of the amateur radio operator using the device.  I'm still amazed that anyone would use this product, which is just a 50-ohm resistor network and a torroid.  Back in the 1980s, the ARRL rejected the claims of the manufacturer because the tuner was just a dummy load.  Of course, the device protected the transmitter, since it presented a 50-ohm load to the transmitter.  I'm not saying the maxcomm won't give you a few contacts...even a dummy load with a wire attached can do that.  A few weeks ago I tried an experiment after I took down my Drake MN-4 ATU for some long-overdue cleaning.  I connected one end of a UHF "T" connector to my dummy load (Heath Cantenna) and the other end to my RG-6 coax going to 4:1 b

Another week has passed and the world is still here.  I must admit to a morbid fascination with the current crop of "end time" proponents.  I usually get a few calls to the news room everytime someone believes he/she has the exact time our planet will disappear and the faithful will be repatriated to paradise.  This week produced a bumper crop of the merely curious and the deeply concerned.  I treat these stories like any other event that crosses the news desk.  Most of the predictions are based on faith and little else.  You either believe or you don't.  The world is facing some real problems, any one of which could ruin your day.  Take your pick--the Middle East, natural disasters of various kinds, errant asteroids, and even the hotly debated climate change theories.  From what I've seen, humanity, with its propensity for both genius and stupidity, is quite capable of doing itself in without the help of the divine.  These radio and television preachers are free to e