These two log periodic antennas are for sale, local pickup only Wausau, WI. Contact me for details.

Last fall, my good friend and great amateur radio operator Dennis, W9PBB passed away. In his will he donated all his amateur radio and electronic gear to the local amateur radio club. We helped the family clean out his house last fall, but had to leave the tower until the the weather was better. After a long, wet winter Saturday May 11 was the day the tower and two log periodic antenna were to come down. Although we were expecting warm weather in May, it was a chilly and blustery morning. But the house had been sold and we needed to finish up the job.

The setup, a 48 foot free standing Trylon Tower and two Tennadyne log periodic antennas presented a formidable challenge. Unlike smaller ham radio towers, these were substantial, bulky, and heavy. A simple gin pole wouldn’t do the job. The club ended up hiring a tree company to aid with their 60 foot bucket truck.

10 years ago we helped Dennis put the tower up, so taking the tower down a decade later was a little bittersweet.

The tower has been sold, and moved to its new home, ready to be erected once the new owner prepares a spot for it. The Log Periodic antennas, a Tennadyne T-10 and Tennadyne T-28 are for sale, (Wausau, WI local pickup only, we will not ship). Antennas are 10 years old, in excellent shape, and show no corrosion. If you are interested in the antennas, leave me a message in the contact form.

The Search and Rescue Merit Badge is a relatively new badge. First introduced in 2012, it pulls together many aspects of Scouting skills like: first aid, map reading, command and control, and communications, to teach the kids the skills on how not to get lost and what goes on in an actual search and rescue operation.

The particular search and rescue MB clinic went past lecturing and book learning and actually involved real players from local fire departments, EMS, emergency management, law enforcement, and amateur radio communities to give the kids a realistic educational experience. More than 100 Scouts participated in the event; everyone had a vital role to play, from being the victim, to being on a strike team or part of the Incident Command Post. In fact, the Incident Command System is a vital part of the badge requirements and every Scout participating had to complete the  FEMA ICS-100 training.

Amateur Radio played a key role in the weekend’s simulation as operation controllers, shadowing the players and reporting health and safety information during the simulation. The simulation participants used radio programmed with fireground frequencies, so using the amateur radio bands kept the participants safe while also not divulging any information that would affect the realism of the simulation. Local fire and emergency management were so pleased with the local ARES/RACES group’s handling of the event that it has opened the door for further joint operations.

The operation started out with the safety briefing, operation objectives, and assignment of roles

Ham Radio ARES/RACES emergency communications members from Portage, Wood and Marathon counties volunteered to help

Our four ‘lost victims’. Makeup was added for realism and so the Scouts could practice assessment and first aid skills

Clues were added for the Scouts to ascertain the victims Place Last Seen and Last Known Place.

Groups of Scouts are assigned roles within the Incident Command System.

A strike team finds one of the lost victims.

Assessment is made, and communicated by to the command post. Basic first aid is performed in the field before the victim is transported.

Victim is loaded onto a stretcher and transported to the command post for triage.

Incident Command Post, staging and triage areas.

click to enlarge

Here’s a picture of the vehicle our local television station is now using for storm chasing. I haven’t seen it out in the field yet, but I do certainly love the satellite dish. No pictures of the inside, but I peered into the deeply tinted windows and didn’t see any radios, just broadcast equipment. I’m guessing they’ll use it for live remotes more than anything else. Great graphics, though.

To dig into the issue a little deeper, we need to define what antenna polarization is and how it affects reception of signals. Radio waves can travel in two different patterns, either in a linear form (think ocean waves) or as a circular pattern (like water going down a drain). The orientation of the antenna can affect how these waves are transmitted or received. This is called polarization. For best performance, it’s desirable to use antennas that have the same polarization.

Antenna polarization types

There are three types of antenna polarization: vertical, horizontal, and circular. If the waves are traveling perpendicular to the earth, they are vertically polarized. Waves traveling parallel to the surface of the earth are horizontally polarized. The third type, circular polarization, creates waves that travel in a swirling fashion. Certain types of communication modes are better suited, or have historically used type type of polarization over the other.

http://www.air-stream.org/antenna-polarisation

For example: FM communications be it voice or data, has historically used antennas that are vertically polarized. Mobile and handheld radios all have vertically mounted antennas. It would be cumbersome to have an antenna on a car or HT that was oriented in a horizontal fashion, so vertical polarization stuck for FM work.

Sideband communications typically is used for long distance and weak signal work. Horizontally polarized antennas have a couple of distinct advantages over vertically polarized ones. First since most trees, structures, and buildings exist in the vertical plane, horizontal signals are less likely to be attenuated by them. Second, man made and natural radio noise typically emanates in a vertical fashion, so horizontal antennas can offer a lower noise floor for weak sideband signals.

Circular polarized antennas, ones that transmit signals on both the horizontal and vertical plane, are commonly used for communication with spacecraft and satellites. As a satellite orbits the earth, it is also rotating, or tumbling towards earth, causing the signals to mix on both the vertical and horizontal plane. A circularly polarized antenna increases the receptability of these types of signals.

Cross Polarization between antennas

With this simplified antenna theory behind us, you can start to get the idea of what happens when you try to use a vertically polarized antenna with a horizontally polarized signal. Because of the cross polarization your signal will be attenuated. This attenuation could be as little as 3db or as great as 20db. If you are communicating Line of Sight (LOS), that is both antennas are visible within the curvature of the earth, the attenuation will be greater. As distance between antennas increase, the cross polarization becomes less and the attenuation is lower.

The J-Pole and Slim Jim Antennas are vertically polarized. Due to their polarization, these antennas are best suited for FM communications. But the antennas are tuned and have enough bandwidth to cover the entire 144 – 148 MHz two meter amateur radio band. Sideband operation happens near the bottom of the band and these antennas are tuned to work that portion. Most sideband operators use horizontally polarized beam and yagi antennas, so using your J-Pole to talk to them will create a cross polarization loss. If the two stations are close enough to be within Line of Sight, the attenuation will be stronger, but as the station’s distance increases, the attenuation will decrease.

One option to work sideband would be to mount the antenna horizontally. Changing the orientation of the antenna does change the polarization of the antenna. You would then match the polarization of the other sideband station. The two meter J-Pole is small and light enough to be effectively horizontally mounted.

Summary: a vertical antenna can be used for sideband operation

Radio signals travel in a linear fashion and their polarization depends on the orientation of the antenna transmitting the signal. Sideband operators typically use horizontally mounted antennas and FM operators vertically mounted antennas. You can use an antenna designed for FM with the sideband mode, but you’ll have to contend with the cross polarization loss of up to 20db. Yet as distance between the two antennas increases beyond the line of sight (20+ miles, depending on antenna height), this attenuation becomes less of a factor. The J-Pole will work on sideband, you may not get the results that a horizontally polarized yagi could deliver, but it will certainly work.

Sources:

Frequency Modulation vs. Single Sideband on the VHF Bands - What’s the Difference?

Antenna Polarization

The amateur radio market is full of choices with price points ranging from under $100 to well over several thousand dollars. It’s not an easy choice when picking out your first radio; especially if you are new to the hobby and am not quite sure what everything does. But the good news is that you can get started in ham radio for a minimal investment with a few key pieces of equipment. My recommendations, based on personal experience and the shared experiences of other new hams, are below and lay out a road map for years of radio enjoyment.

Base stations, mobiles, or handhelds

My slightly cluttered, but serviceable station includes an entry level HF right (Icom IC-718), a dual band VHF/UHF (Kenwood TM-V7a) and single band VHF (Icom IC-2100).

The first radio most hams purchase is a single or dual band HT. Portable radios are enticing, I know because that’s how I started out. You can use your portable in the car, house, or at ham radio club events. If providing public service at club events, like walkathons, races, and rallys, then a solid HT is a good starting choice.

With this in mind, the Chines HTs like brands Wouxun and Baofang, are increasing in popularity due to their low price. These radios are solid transmitters and for the most part they meet their listed specifications. But while they are affordable, they do have a couple of downsides. Most notably their difficulty to program without the software and a non-standard antenna connection. (they use a reverse SMA connector where the male pin is on the radio instead of the antenna). This programming aspect can be challenging to the new ham, so be sure to order the cable and software to program your radio. As for the antenna, if you are planning to use an external antenna with these radios, get the proper adapter for easy hookup.

I still prefer the single band 2 meter radios from Yaesu, Icom or Kenwood. These rigs are rugged, reliable, and easy to use. For the most part, they’re not much more expensive than the Chinese models. I guess you get what you pay for.

But what about something for the car? You can use your portable radio in your vehicle, but take it from me: if you are driving, it is a lot more convenient to use a mobile radio than it is to listen and talk on a portable. Plus the addition of more power and an external vehicle antenna will give you solid communications into all the local and wide area repeaters.

Unless you live in a larger metro area, the majority of repeater activity will be on the 2 meter band. Starting out with a 2 meter mobile rig in your car is sufficient. You can always upgrade down the line to a rig with more features and bands, and your trusty 2 meter rig will work great as a backup or 2nd radio in the shack. I started out with simple Icom 2 meter rigs, and as I upgraded to newer models, these rugged and reliable radios have served a wide variety of purposes over the years. I’m still using my first 2 meter mobile on my APRS and Winlink 2000 home station. Investing in quality equipment will give you years of reliable service.

Which brings us to the thought of a base station. You can get by with your handheld in the house, extending it’s range with the addition of a outdoor antenna. But after putting a mobile in your car, you will want to save and invest in a good base station. The reason, portables work great for occasional transmissions, but like using them in the car, they become inconvenient for longer transmissions and you can deplete the battery rather quickly in an evening of on-air conversation.

For base stations, I recommend making the jump to a good dual band radio. The addition of UHF in the home will give you access to linked repeaters and IRLP and Echolink nodes. In the dual band realm, there are two options: single band receive, or dual band receive. Dual band receive is nice, you can hear both VHF and UHF transmissions at the same time; it’s like having two radios built into one package. But that convenience comes at an additional cost of $150 to $200. A dual band rig that receives a band a time is a good trade-off if the budget is tight. Remember, when installing a base radio that you will also need a power supply, coax and antenna. These tree items can add another $200 to $250 to the cost of your entire base station investment.

Final recommendations

In this article I didn’t specifically mention models, as models seem to keep on changing. But my recommendation to the new ham is to always invest in something easy to use and quality. As you gain knowledge use these key pieces of gear as a stepping stone into more sophisticated equipment.

I originally wrote this article on March of 2012, but over the past year this topic has been one of the most searched blog posts on my site. Lightning safety is an important topic, so I revisited the information, updated it and present it again at the top of my blog.

When you look at my all copper J-Pole antennas, you would assume that they are more susceptible to lightning strikes than fiberglass encased vertical antennas. But in actuality, they are no more or less dangerous than any other antenna. The recent outbreak of severe weather and tornadoes drives home the message that your antenna system needs to be protected from lightning strikes.

Lightning is a product of thunderstorm development. As thunderstorms develop, the ice crystals inside a growing thunder cloud become electrically charged. When the static charge becomes so great that the insulating air around the crystals can’t contain it; the charge is released as a lightning bolt. The lightning will seek the path of least resistance and strike the closest grounded object. Any antenna can act as a giant lightning rod.

Not all areas of the country are equally susceptible to lightning. Some regions are more prone to thunderstorms than others, so lightning protection can be as much of a risk management issue as a safety one. Living in the west, you may not be as concerned about lightning as say someone in Florida. But lightning can occur anywhere, so erring on the side of safety is recommended.

Lightning protection for amateur radio antennas

To protect yourself, home, and your radio equipment you need to install some basic lightning protections into your antenna system. Most lightning protection systems serve two purposes: to channel lightning’s electrical energy to a suitable ground, and to keep lightning energy from entering your home.

Channel lightning’s electrical energy to a suitable ground

Grounding your tower and antenna system is the first step for lightning protection. All antennas on a single tower or mast should go to a common ground point. If you have multiple towers or masts at your location, then each tower can have it’s own ground system. The easiest is to ground your antennas and tower so that a lightning strike will go into the ground and away from your house. Antennas should be ground bonded to the tower and the tower bonded to an eight foot ground rod buried at the base of the tower. 10 gauge solid electrical wire is heavy enough for most antenna systems.

Keep lightning energy from entering your house

Polyphaser lightning arrestor

Since the lightning will also follow the coax into your radios, you need to also isolate the coax from the antenna. Lightning arrestors are small devices that are attached inline of your coax feedline. Like a fuse, they are designed to break the connection when a sudden burst of energy comes across them. There are many brands of arrestors on the market. One such, Polyphaser makes lightning arrestors that can do just that job. In lieu of an arrestor, physically disconnecting your equipment from the feedline during the thunderstorm also helps. Lightning energy will follow the feedline, but combined with a proper ground system, damage will be minimal.

The ARRL has a great series of articles on lightning protection for amateur radio stations. I recommend that you read that information and follow their recommendations. Also check with your homeowners insurance carrier about protection levels and limits on lightning damage. Some companies don’t automatically cover lightning damage or have certain limits on coverage.

Finally, if you must operate during a thunderstorm, I recommend using a protected antenna, maybe in your attic or located inside your home. Your house will act like a Faraday cage and provide natural protection from the lightning, allowing you to operate without fear of lightning hitting the antenna.

Of course moving may be out of the question, but you still want to be on the air. How do you put up an antenna and still keep the peace with the spouse, neighbors, and HOA’s? You could work within the system, and the ARRL has a great book about antenna zoning that may be of value. But unless you are contemplating a tower and multiple antennas, it may be easier to put up a couple of stealth antennas and beg forgiveness rather than ask permission. Here are some stealth antenna ideas collected by fellow J-Pole antenna users.

It’s great to see an antenna up in the air, but in a restrictive community this mounting situation may be out of place.

Stealth antennas begin with camouflage.  

In researching the subject, the common rule provided is to create an antenna that does not look out of place. a common recommendation is to blend it into the architectural elements of the house, or landscape elements of the property. A bright, shiny J-Pole may catch attention, but one obscured by painting will be less noticeable. Painting your antenna flat black, architectural brown, or OD green will help it blend into the natural surroundings. Pick a color that works with your house and surroundings and give the antenna a coat of paint.

Mounting location makes a difference

An antenna on a 30 foot mast gleaming in the sunlight is sure to attract attention. But will a short mast off the deck, behind the storage shed, tucked in by a tree or bird feeder attract prying eyes? As long as the location is unobtrusive and not easily viewable from the road, you’ll probably get away with installing the antenna there.

Hiding in plain sight

Two great locations come to mind with hiding the antenna in plain sight. One is to ‘plant’ the antenna in a pot with landscape rock to support it and run some plastic vine and flowers up the antenna. The antenna could live on your deck or balcony without a second glance. In fact the flowerpot makes a great base for the balcony mounted antenna. It’s movable, so you can leave the pot near the wall when not in use and move it out when you need to. Another potential option would be a quick release bracket on the railing, much like a flagpole, so the antenna can be deployed when you will be transmitting and tucked away when not in use.

Satellite DTV dishes are a common sight on most homes and are exempt from most HOA restrictions. Use the dish’s mounting bracket to install an antenna just above it. Make sure to paint the antenna the same color as the dish to help it blend.

Finally if all else fails, the attic may make a good location for installing an antenna. Newer houses tend to have taller rooflines and if you attic space allows you to stand, you could most likely install a vertical antenna in it. Since the neighbors and spouse can’t complain about what they can’t see, this may be the best location in a restrictive environment.

I hope these suggestions give you ideas on mounting location for your antennas. I’m in no ways an expert in HOA rules and restrictive covenants, but I do know from research that a sensible installation that blends will not likely attract attention. If you have any further suggestions or experience on how you hid your antennas, please leave a comment below.

We always can’t tower an aircraft control tower, so listening in on the scanner is the second best thing available.

Even if you don’t live near to an airport, you still aren’t out of luck. Air traffic communications can travel tens to hundreds of miles. So while you may not be able to copy the ground communications, you will be able to hear the transmissions from the aircraft as they pass overhead. It is not uncommon to hear air traffic from 150 miles or more originating from an airplane high overhead. But what about ground based operations, the airband conversation isn’t complete unless you can hear both the ground and the air.

KB9VBR Airband J-Pole (Click image to enlarge)

Since most Fixed Base Operations (FBO) and Commercial air traffic control (ATC) antenna systems and communications are optimized to be received by aircraft, you may have a difficult time receiving them with the stock antenna on your scanner. A good quality external antenna, mounted outside will greatly improve your reception of ground to air communications. Designed and tuned for the civilian aviation band, the Airband J-Pole Antenna serves this purpose quite well. But even with a good antenna, unless you live within 15-20 of the airport, the best antennas in the world won’t bring in those distant ground signals.

Fortunately, thanks to the Internet,  you can enjoy the traffic from hundreds of airports streamed directly into your computer or smart phone. LiveATC.net provides live and archived audio feeds from hundreds of airports around the world. Made up of a network of volunteers living close to major airports, they receive the signals and stream them online 24 hours a day.

You also can get into the action if you live are an aviation fan and live near an airport not served by a LiveATC feed. They are always looking for volunteers willing to put up a streaming station. All you need is a always on Internet connection (like cable or DSL), a scanner available to receive airband communications, and a computer with an extra sound card. Unless you live literally next door to the airport, an external antenna like the Airband J-Pole Antenna will also be necessary. The helpful people of LiveATC will supply the software and expertise to help get everything on the air.

Do you enjoy listening aviation traffic? Tell us about your airband receiving setup in the comments below.

This year my goal was to hit the Wisconsin QSO Party with vigor. In previous years, I’d work off and on and eek out between 30 and 60 contacts- not really setting the bands on fire. But this year with a little effort and good conditions I managed to bring in a whopping 176 QSOs. Nothing to sneeze at, as the final score firmly puts my in the middle of the pack. But working a little harder and grabbing a piece of airwave so I can start calling CQ really made the difference in racking up the points.

I got a slow start, making a contact on four bands with a fellow local, when the contest started out at 1:00pm local time. The bands where in great shape, with the bulk of activity on 40m, and  through the early afternoon hours the band stayed pretty short- mostly Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota contacts. As the afternoon wore on, the band started to lengthen and by 5:00pm I was regularly pulling in stations from Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. I was having such good luck on 40 meters that I didn’t deviate much from that band.

No my wife didn’t bring me a Schlitz, but I did celebrate the end of the event with a New Glarus Spotted Cow.

After taking a quick dinner break, I started again at 7:00pm for the last hour of the event. 75m opened up so I got things tuned up and started working. After 20 minutes of hunt and pounce, I found a clear spot and started calling. It was like shooting fish in a barrel, lots of good quality signals made it easy to rack up the points. Even on 75 meters I was pulling in stations from much of the upper midwest. By 8:00pm the end of the contest rolled around, and I had made contact as far east as Virginia and Maryland on 75m. Not too shabby.

I had planned to do work a little digital and do a little DX, but I was having such a good run on voice that I stayed on that mode all afternoon. As for my station, it’s pretty simple: I run an Icom IC-718, with a G5RV antenna connected to an MFJ-846D Versatuner II. My biggest convenience is the Heil Pro Headset with the footswitch- it give me both hands free to log with the N3JFP QSO Party software.

Final Score for the event:

Final note: I do return QSL, so if we made contact and you need a Wisconsin or Marathon County QSL, please feel free to send me a card. My address is ‘good in the book.’

Here in the northern climes, the days are getting warmer and the snow is rapidly disappearing. But as warmer weather returns across the country, hams are getting ready to do their annual spring check and maintenance of their antenna systems. Winter can be hard on antennas: rapid cold and thaws, rain, snow, and of course ice can prematurely call an end to your radio transmitting. Pick a warm day, assemble some gear and go out and check your antennas.

1. Sweep the lines for high SWR

As with anything, you don’t know you have a problem until you start having problems. Get out the antenna analyzer (borrow one from a fellow ham if you need to), attach it to the coax in the shack and run it up and down the operating frequencies to check the SWR of the antenna. Check the antennas manufacturing specs to see if your actual SWR has changed from the manufacturer’s ideal. Ideally you should be within 1.5:1 or less. If you see high SWR or the bandwidth is not as wide as before, you may need to do some additional work. Otherwise if the SWR looks good, move along to step 2.

Ideally your SWR should be 1.5:1 or less for the range of operating frequencies you most often use

If your SWR is marginally high but not an open short, check your coax for good connection, check the weatherproofing on your coax and make sure the coax line isn’t kinked. Kinked coax or water in your feedline can cause the SWR to rise. Next inspect the antenna. With the analyzer and a good piece of coax, connect to the feedpoint of the antenna. If the SWR checks out, then your problem is in the feedline. Otherwise the antenna may be damaged; swap out antennas and check the coax again to verify.

If your analyzer shows an open short, you either have an antenna with a broken feedpoint, or your coax connection is broken. Check the coax for broken solder joints in the PL-259 connector. Flexing and vibration can cause a poor solder joint to break. Check for continuity by doing the ‘wiggle’ test with the coax connected to the analyzer or a multi-meter. If the connection is sporadic, you will most likely need to replace the PL-259 connector. If the coax checks out, then the problem may be in the antenna.  Swap out the antenna and test again.

2. Inspect the tower, mast, and guy lines.

If you have a tower, don’t consider climbing it to inspect antennas until an evaluation of the tower and its support structure are checked. If everything is safe and solid, then climb the tower (with proper equipment and ground crew) to inspect the antennas.

3. Inspect the antenna, mounts, and brackets.

Always observe proper safety practices and procedures when climbing towers and other structures

Make sure there isn’t any damage from ice or rapid freeze/thaw cycles. Tighten any loose bolts and screws. Inspect the weather proofing. Retape any connections if necessary. I prefer a high quality electrical tape, like Scotch 33+ or Super 88 to weather proof my coax connections.

4. Check your wire antennas.

So far I’ve focused manly on vertical antennas, but your wire antennas need to be also checked. Sweep the lines first and then inspect the connections. Most wire antennas require a tuner, so you are mostly looking for open shorts and abnormally high SWR. If your SWR is higher than 9:1, you most likely have an issue with the connections, traps, or balun on the antenna. Next check the support lines for frays and wear, especially if you are using a tree for support. Rope can become brittle from UV exposure, so you may need to restring the support lines if they are more than a few years old.

While this is not an exhaustive check list, it gives you a good starting point for a thorough spring inspection. Repeat the same inspection in the fall before the weather gets cold, and you’re antenna systems will deliver years of dependable performance.

Do you have any spring antenna maintenance tips? Please share them in the comments below.