I'm in the process of obtaining my HAM technician license. I've decided on this option over SSB becasue broader spectrum offered over SSB. I'm considering a Yaesu FT 100D radio but have many questions about the antenna and tunner. What do you HAMs out there use?? Which tunner is the easiest to use and provides the best SWR for the money?? As for the antenna, all stainless..stainless fiberglass combo../12 wave ...1/4 wave???? Thanks in advance Dick McKee S/V Constellation
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Pat Tyler
Ham Radio
You'll need to get at least a general license to fully use ham radio on board. I used a ham stick mounted to the stern rail which makes it easy to change for different bands. The ground is very improtant...a lot of us use a lot of copper screen wire. This system worked quite well on my c72 and I'm sure it will work just as well on my new 320 arriving next week. Good luck with you license...Pat W4DAG
You'll need to get at least a general license to fully use ham radio on board. I used a ham stick mounted to the stern rail which makes it easy to change for different bands. The ground is very improtant...a lot of us use a lot of copper screen wire. This system worked quite well on my c72 and I'm sure it will work just as well on my new 320 arriving next week. Good luck with you license...Pat W4DAG
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Dick McKee
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Ron
Agree
I agree with Pat. Lakeview Company, the makers of "Hamsticks," has a dipole kit out that allows you to use two hamsticks as a dipole therefore eliminating the need for counterpoise. One hamstick is conected to the center wire of your coax and the other to the ground. People I talked to are getting great results. I'll let you know how I make out. As for a tuner. With ham sticks you don't really need a tuner, but, if you want to widen your freq. you can use one. I use an MFJ. It's small and good to 300 watts. I also use it on my qrp rig at 2.5 watts. And please, don't buy anything based on a tech license. A tech license is NOT ham radio. Trust me. If you don't progress you will grow tired of Ham in a very short time...and gud luck 73's Ron KA5HZV
I agree with Pat. Lakeview Company, the makers of "Hamsticks," has a dipole kit out that allows you to use two hamsticks as a dipole therefore eliminating the need for counterpoise. One hamstick is conected to the center wire of your coax and the other to the ground. People I talked to are getting great results. I'll let you know how I make out. As for a tuner. With ham sticks you don't really need a tuner, but, if you want to widen your freq. you can use one. I use an MFJ. It's small and good to 300 watts. I also use it on my qrp rig at 2.5 watts. And please, don't buy anything based on a tech license. A tech license is NOT ham radio. Trust me. If you don't progress you will grow tired of Ham in a very short time...and gud luck 73's Ron KA5HZV
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Rodney Kidd
Ham Radio Onboard Flying Bear
Dick, I use a old Kenwood TS140 and an SGC Smart Tuner feeding an insulated backstay. I did add a ground plane inside the hull of my Catalina 38. The ground plane is made up of 3" wide copper ribbon. The ribbon runs from the grounding connection on the tuner (mounted in the aft lazerette), forward between the aluminum fuel tank and engine (copper ribbon connections to both the engine and metal fuel tank, then to a tapped hole in one of the keel bolts. As earlier posts mentioned, the ground is very important. The SGC Smart Tuner is fully microprocessor controlled and fully automatic. Key the mike and the tuner will sense the SWR and find a tuning solution within 500 msec. Once the tuner finds a solution, it stores the solution in memory so if you return to that frequency band again, tuning is almost instantaneous. The tuner memory can hold 500 solutions. The tuner is waterproof, and requires 12 Volts DC and has a remote indicator line to signal when the tuner is "tuned". Since the tuner uses SWR to tune the antenna, it will work with any radio. The downside is that the Smart Tuner costs about $350. I also have setup a TNC (terminal node controller) and using a laptop with the Airmail host program, am able to send e-mails from the boat via ham radio. Really handy at times! Fair Winds, Rodney Kidd C-38 #297, Flying Bear, SF Bay
Dick, I use a old Kenwood TS140 and an SGC Smart Tuner feeding an insulated backstay. I did add a ground plane inside the hull of my Catalina 38. The ground plane is made up of 3" wide copper ribbon. The ribbon runs from the grounding connection on the tuner (mounted in the aft lazerette), forward between the aluminum fuel tank and engine (copper ribbon connections to both the engine and metal fuel tank, then to a tapped hole in one of the keel bolts. As earlier posts mentioned, the ground is very important. The SGC Smart Tuner is fully microprocessor controlled and fully automatic. Key the mike and the tuner will sense the SWR and find a tuning solution within 500 msec. Once the tuner finds a solution, it stores the solution in memory so if you return to that frequency band again, tuning is almost instantaneous. The tuner memory can hold 500 solutions. The tuner is waterproof, and requires 12 Volts DC and has a remote indicator line to signal when the tuner is "tuned". Since the tuner uses SWR to tune the antenna, it will work with any radio. The downside is that the Smart Tuner costs about $350. I also have setup a TNC (terminal node controller) and using a laptop with the Airmail host program, am able to send e-mails from the boat via ham radio. Really handy at times! Fair Winds, Rodney Kidd C-38 #297, Flying Bear, SF Bay
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Ron
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ken.shubert
Finding Elmer
An Elmer is a Ham term for an experienced ham that helps a beginner. You may be able to find your Elmer at a local club. A good way to find local clubs is on the ARRL (American Radio Relay League) website: http://www.arrl.org There's a wealth of ham radio information on that site. As you can guess from these replies, there are as many different ways to set up a station as there are hams. I only work 2 meters and 10 meters.... any lower frequency and I'll need more boat. Good luck and wecome to hamming! If you dig into ham history far enough, you'll find why our boat is the "Wouff Hong". DE K0KS S/V Wouff Hong
An Elmer is a Ham term for an experienced ham that helps a beginner. You may be able to find your Elmer at a local club. A good way to find local clubs is on the ARRL (American Radio Relay League) website: http://www.arrl.org There's a wealth of ham radio information on that site. As you can guess from these replies, there are as many different ways to set up a station as there are hams. I only work 2 meters and 10 meters.... any lower frequency and I'll need more boat. Good luck and wecome to hamming! If you dig into ham history far enough, you'll find why our boat is the "Wouff Hong". DE K0KS S/V Wouff Hong
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Rodney Kidd
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Ken Palmer
Hamming on-board. Some day.
I'm a wanna-be sailing ham. And you thought pigs could fly! Seriously though, I operate a little 2-metes on Liberty using my VHF whip on top of the mast for both radios. I have a coax switch that works fine for the dual roll, and the antenna works well on both sets of frequencies. Some day I plan on moving my Kenwood TS440 out to Liberty, installing some sort of HF antenna, and driving my wife nuts. The next few years I figure that I can get by on a short dipole or whip antenna working 10 meter DX (distance for you non-hams). That antenna should be a snap to put up, and could be a lot of fun talking to others as a "maritime mobile". I bet there are many sailing hams out there. We should all start signing the end of our posts with call signs. Cheers, and see you on the air. Ken Palmer, S/V Liberty W2IMO http://www.LakeOntarioSailing.com
I'm a wanna-be sailing ham. And you thought pigs could fly! Seriously though, I operate a little 2-metes on Liberty using my VHF whip on top of the mast for both radios. I have a coax switch that works fine for the dual roll, and the antenna works well on both sets of frequencies. Some day I plan on moving my Kenwood TS440 out to Liberty, installing some sort of HF antenna, and driving my wife nuts. The next few years I figure that I can get by on a short dipole or whip antenna working 10 meter DX (distance for you non-hams). That antenna should be a snap to put up, and could be a lot of fun talking to others as a "maritime mobile". I bet there are many sailing hams out there. We should all start signing the end of our posts with call signs. Cheers, and see you on the air. Ken Palmer, S/V Liberty W2IMO http://www.LakeOntarioSailing.com
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Ron
Some Pix
As I wrote earlier, there is a mount being used by boaters that doesn't require a counterpoise or ground. It uses two hamsticks mounted as a dipole. If you'd like to see it, go to my picturesite: WWW.Photopoint.com In the block for Friend's E-mail address, type in KA5HZV@Yahoo.com, then click on Antenna Mount... Also check out the rest of the pics if you'd like.....Ron
As I wrote earlier, there is a mount being used by boaters that doesn't require a counterpoise or ground. It uses two hamsticks mounted as a dipole. If you'd like to see it, go to my picturesite: WWW.Photopoint.com In the block for Friend's E-mail address, type in KA5HZV@Yahoo.com, then click on Antenna Mount... Also check out the rest of the pics if you'd like.....Ron
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