Thursday, March 14, 2024

#6m season opener

 


During the NAC VHF contest PA0O spotted ZD7MY with strong signals. Moments later he was in the log again. I've worked ZD7MY before but it is still magic... is the season starting today. Who knows...

Monday, March 11, 2024

New CB antenna into the tower


  PD8HW Herman donated me an almost new Sirio Gainmaster HW CB/10m antenna. It has been replacing the old half wave GP on top of the tower. The Gainmaster has a somewhat other design, it is not an endfed like the GP. This one is actually a vertical dipole. Not a new design, it is originally called a T2LT antenna. Detailed info on this antenna can be found here:

The mystery of Gainmaster

The antenna will be used for local CB communication. Although SWR is below 1:2 on 12m and 10m as well. I already had very good results DXing on 12m FT modes yesterday, although it is absolutely not ment for DX. Fellow blogger Tom M7MCQ already made a mini review partly about this antenna:

ALINCO DX-10 & SIRIO GAIN-MASTER HW

Old Alu GP, not very sturdy.

  To compare antennas I used a webSDR about 25km away. On the GP I barely had a S-meter reading of S5. With the Gainmaster the meter showed well over S5, sometimes S6. There is clearly a difference. To me this antenna looks sturdier as previous used Antron A-99 CB antennas. SWR is below 1:2 between 24-29 MHz here, of course best SWR is at 27MHz.



The Gainmaster HW on top of the tower, can be barely seen with white clouds in the background.

Oh yes, I have to admit. I still love CB. Why not? It is different from HAMradio although not that different. We are all amateurradio operators...


Thursday, March 7, 2024

#60m EP4HR Iran worked

 


Earlier this evening I also worked TY5C from Benin. The strange thing is that JTDX tells me I already worked Benin on 60. But when I analyze my log there is no TY on 60m in there...strange...