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Author Topic: BEER is on the air 13566.00  (Read 7335 times)

Offline Beerus Maximus

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BEER is on the air 13566.00
« on: January 26, 2018, 0103 UTC »
BEER is a Black Cat Systems 22m beacon kit (see: https://blackcatsystems.com/rf-products/22_meter_band_part_15_beacon_kit.html) 13566 is the area-ish.

It is assembled and on the air, transmitting from the Boston suburbs. As of 1/25/2018 the antenna is an end-fed 20M dipole not far off the ground. It is outdoors, but not far above the ground right now. Not entirely ideal, but it's possible someone may hear this beacon. Antenna improvements when the weather is warmer.

Valid reception reports will be rewarded with a nice printed QSL card.  Submit reports to: beerusmaximus@gmail.com. An audio recording, SDR capture, or legitimate waterfall screen scrape will get you a card. Note, a postal mailing address is required to receive a card.

Once again, target frequency is 13566.0-ish.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2018, 1612 UTC by Beerus Maximus »
# Genetically engineered sentient sausage & undisputed inventor of the end-fed dipole. I also invented the schlumpy dipole.
# KiwiSDR, NetSDR, Airspy HF+, Airspy HF+ Discovery, TS-590, IC-7610, FTDX10, ANAN 7000 DLE MKII
# beerusmaximus@gmail.com * North Shore, Massachusetts

Offline Pigmeat

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2018, 1903 UTC »
Any luck yet? I've tried a couple of times but it's nothing but a buzz saw of noise here in that region of the band.

Offline Beerus Maximus

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2018, 1339 UTC »
No reports yet. The beacon is on the air 24/7.
# Genetically engineered sentient sausage & undisputed inventor of the end-fed dipole. I also invented the schlumpy dipole.
# KiwiSDR, NetSDR, Airspy HF+, Airspy HF+ Discovery, TS-590, IC-7610, FTDX10, ANAN 7000 DLE MKII
# beerusmaximus@gmail.com * North Shore, Massachusetts

Offline tesla

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2018, 0044 UTC »
I have been listening for it...in time it will show up in Colorado is my guess.

Finman

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2018, 1955 UTC »
Just wondering, how is a dipole "end fed"?

BEER is a Black Cat Systems 22m beacon kit (see: https://blackcatsystems.com/rf-products/22_meter_band_part_15_beacon_kit.html) 13560.720 is the area-ish.

It is assembled and on the air, transmitting from the Boston suburbs. As of 1/25/2018 the antenna is an end-fed 20M dipole not far off the ground. It is outdoors, but not far above the ground right now. Not entirely ideal, but it's possible someone may hear this beacon. Antenna improvements when the weather is warmer.

Valid reception reports will be rewarded with a nice printed QSL card.  Submit reports to: beerusmaximus@gmail.com. An audio recording, SDR capture, or legitimate waterfall screen scrape will get you a card. Note, a postal mailing address is required to receive a card.

Once again, target frequency is 13560.720-ish.

Offline Beerus Maximus

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2018, 1204 UTC »
Just wondering, how is a dipole "end fed"?

With a tuning fork.
# Genetically engineered sentient sausage & undisputed inventor of the end-fed dipole. I also invented the schlumpy dipole.
# KiwiSDR, NetSDR, Airspy HF+, Airspy HF+ Discovery, TS-590, IC-7610, FTDX10, ANAN 7000 DLE MKII
# beerusmaximus@gmail.com * North Shore, Massachusetts

Offline Josh

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2018, 1700 UTC »
Just wondering, how is a dipole "end fed"?

A dipole is considered to be such when the total length of the radiating elements are a half wavelength at the frequency of operation. If fed in the middle (where current is max and voltage is min) you get a low impedance wich is suited for coax. If fed on the end (where voltage is max and current is min) you see around 2k ohms impedance, a considerable hurdle for coax matching that will require a transformer to efficiently transfer power from coax to antenna or vice versa. End feed sometimes exacerbates rfi issues in the shack, but ferrites placed on the feed line can mitigate these unwanted effects.
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Finman

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2018, 1713 UTC »
FYI.... there is no such thing as an "end fed dipole". A dipole is center fed. An end fed wire is not a "dipole".
The exception being an O.C.F. dipole (G5RV).

The impedance at the feedpoint of an end fed wire depends on  the length of the wire and frequency of operation, not just "2k ohms"   ;)
« Last Edit: January 31, 2018, 1726 UTC by Finman »

Offline Beerus Maximus

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2018, 0130 UTC »
BEER is off the air. The house cleaners took some extra liberties with my shack and somehow managed to destroy the beacon. Looks like the power cable got tangled in a vacuum and the board beaten up in the bristles. My bad for not getting it into a box and tucked away.

Hopefully back on the air soon when I can affect some repairs.
# Genetically engineered sentient sausage & undisputed inventor of the end-fed dipole. I also invented the schlumpy dipole.
# KiwiSDR, NetSDR, Airspy HF+, Airspy HF+ Discovery, TS-590, IC-7610, FTDX10, ANAN 7000 DLE MKII
# beerusmaximus@gmail.com * North Shore, Massachusetts

Offline Pigmeat

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2018, 0753 UTC »

Offline Josh

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #10 on: February 04, 2018, 1549 UTC »
BEER is off the air. The house cleaners took some extra liberties with my shack and somehow managed to destroy the beacon. Looks like the power cable got tangled in a vacuum and the board beaten up in the bristles. My bad for not getting it into a box and tucked away.

Hopefully back on the air soon when I can affect some repairs.

This post requires pics.
We do not encourage any radio operations contrary to regulations.

Offline Josh

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #11 on: February 04, 2018, 1552 UTC »
FYI.... there is no such thing as an "end fed dipole". A dipole is center fed. An end fed wire is not a "dipole".
The exception being an O.C.F. dipole (G5RV).

The impedance at the feedpoint of an end fed wire depends on  the length of the wire and frequency of operation, not just "2k ohms"   ;)

A dipole is usually taken to be 1/2 wave long for the frequency in question, and the ends see around 2k ohms z.
:D
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Finman

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #12 on: February 05, 2018, 1232 UTC »
Again, a DIPOLE is center fed, not end fed. You are confusing an end fed wire with a dipole.


FYI.... there is no such thing as an "end fed dipole". A dipole is center fed. An end fed wire is not a "dipole".
The exception being an O.C.F. dipole (G5RV).

The impedance at the feedpoint of an end fed wire depends on  the length of the wire and frequency of operation, not just "2k ohms"   ;)

A dipole is usually taken to be 1/2 wave long for the frequency in question, and the ends see around 2k ohms z.
:D

Offline QRP

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #13 on: February 05, 2018, 1855 UTC »
Hope this could be a response to the dispute in the subject antennas  :)
http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=95835.0

//QRP

Finman

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Re: BEER is on the air 13560.720
« Reply #14 on: February 06, 2018, 1208 UTC »
And again, incorrectly stated several times by some hams that don't know any better in that discussion, an "END FED WIRE" is not a "DIPOLE" and there is no such thing as an "END FED DIPOLE"

Here's the definition of a "Dipole"

"A dipole antenna is the simplest type of radio antenna, consisting of a conductive wire rod that is half the length of the maximum wavelength the antenna is to generate. This wire rod is split in the middle, and the two sections are separated by an insulator."

Notice the "middle" reference? A wire that is fed at the end is, an "End fed wire" antenna.

Another one = "A dipole antenna is a straight electrical conductor measuring 1/2 wavelength from end to end and connected at the center to a radio-frequency (RF) feed line"



Hope this could be a response to the dispute in the subject antennas  :)
http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=95835.0

//QRP
« Last Edit: February 06, 2018, 1258 UTC by Finman »

 

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