Ham Radio: Who is going to the Marlborough flea Saturday?

Are you going to the Marlborough hamfest?


  • Total voters
    21
Hey guys, if you were to move your discussion to a thread with the proper title, someone else will be able to find it easier so they can learn about it.[offtopic]
 
I didn't want to start a new thread but I do have a question about the internal antenna tuner in a Yaesu FT-450.
Normally when I press and hold the tune button the radio will click a little and the metere will act as if the radio is transmitting(which I know it is).
Then the unit will take itself back to normal mode. I'm assuming at that point the antenna is tuned and I'm ready to go.
If I'm joing a conversation already in progress I usually tune up or down the dial 2 or 3 Khz to do my tuning. Then I tune back up to the intended frequency.
Sometimes when I press and hold the tune button it only clicks once very briefly and the antenna icon flashes a few times. I've been assuming that in that case the tuner is not able to make a match but I'm not sure if this is the case.
I also read something about memories in the tuner itself which make matching virtually instantaneous so I started thinking that maybe the memories are kicking in.
Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? If I need to get an external tuner with a wider range I'm willing to do that. I just dont' want to waste money if I don't need it.
I'm also wondering if having excess coaxial cable in a coil on the floor can have a negative impact.
 
I'm also wondering if having excess coaxial cable in a coil on the floor can have a negative impact.

Doesn't that make the coax act as a balun? I thought that you should run your excess coax back in forth then like an extention cord?.. I ran mine back and forth across two nails on the rafters so it wouldn't be in a coil.
 
Doesn't that make the coax act as a balun? I thought that you should run your excess coax back in forth then like an extention cord?.. I ran mine back and forth across two nails on the rafters so it wouldn't be in a coil.

Only if you wind the coax up like this!

Inverted-Vee-1.png


You can do this at the shack end as well to keep RF off the coaxial feedline.
 
I plan to shorten the coax as soon as I'm sure that the location of my antenna is satisfactory.
 
you should not assume the antenna is tuned. If you don't have an SWR meter you don't know if your tuned. Not sure what the flashing antenna symbol means (manual would say...) but just because it only clicks a few times doesn't mean it isnt' tuned. It might have just found the right tuning combo quickly.
 
you should not assume the antenna is tuned. If you don't have an SWR meter you don't know if your tuned. Not sure what the flashing antenna symbol means (manual would say...) but just because it only clicks a few times doesn't mean it isnt' tuned. It might have just found the right tuning combo quickly.

Thanks. I think I see another $200 going out the window:) LDG at100 Pro here I come!
 
And, on QTH there's a person selling twp YS-500s for 80 bucks shipped. I was thinking about buying another one...but don't think that I need two VHF/UHF SWR Meters.... I was thinking of running one one each rig...but figured against it...
 
Sweet, let me know if you get one. eHam rates them as a 5/5. I used one that a friend had and really loved it... That's why I was looking for one... I kept watching them come up on eBay and watch them go for 150-200 bucks... I paid 83 shipped for the I'm getting...should have it tomorrow when I get to work. So 80 bucks shipped is good price.
 
My next investment will probably be a good meter. The guy at HRO was talking something like $225 for an analyzer.
I hit a contact in Honduras tonight. Had me at 59 so some of this stuff is working. Of course there was a guy in NJ that I could barely hear tonight and a few nights ago it was like he was in my shack.
 
A good investment is to get a Bird 43 Watt Meter like this:
43.jpg

It measures both forward and reflected power and it's more accurate than an SWR meter.
 
Bird meters are great, don't get me wrong, I own several but most modern transceivers have built in SWR, MOD, PWR and ALC metering. What you are going to find most useful is an antenna analyzer that will allow you to tune your antennas AT the feedpoint, or very close to it, without the use of a transceiver. They are not cheap but the new ones cover DC to Daylight and will save your time and your final amplifying transistors. If you are going to fool with antennas and most hams do, it will be your most used tool. You can check the 2m and 440mHz ant on your car as well as that 20m or 80m dipole, or see how that G5RV came out while you can still rehang and retune it! It's one of the few things that MFJ makes that I can actually recommend :)

MFJ-259B.jpg



 
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Bird meters are great, don't get me wrong, I own several but most modern transceivers have built in SWR, MOD, PWR and ALC metering. What you are going to find most useful is an antenna analyzer that will allow you to tune your antennas AT the feedpoint, or very close to it, without the use of a transceiver. They are not cheap but the new ones cover DC to Daylight and will save your time and your final amplifying transistors. If you are going to fool with antennas and most hams do, it will be your most used tool. You can check the 2m and 440mHz ant on your car as well as that 20m or 80m dipole, or see how that G5RV came out while you can still rehang and retune it! It's one of the few things that MFJ makes that I can actually recommend :)

MFJ-259B.jpg







OK. I'll put that on the list. I"m guessing that's what the salesman at HRO was referring to. About $220?
 
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OK, so I don't understand what that was doing on the antenna? He was moving it up and down the coil...how does that tune it? That's where he'll put the feed points? Man, I'm thinking that I need to take an antenna course from someone...

Anyone up for teaching an antenna class???
 
Bird meters are great, don't get me wrong, I own several but most modern transceivers have built in SWR, MOD, PWR and ALC metering. What you are going to find most useful is an antenna analyzer that will allow you to tune your antennas AT the feedpoint, or very close to it, without the use of a transceiver. They are not cheap but the new ones cover DC to Daylight and will save your time and your final amplifying transistors. If you are going to fool with antennas and most hams do, it will be your most used tool. You can check the 2m and 440mHz ant on your car as well as that 20m or 80m dipole, or see how that G5RV came out while you can still rehang and retune it! It's one of the few things that MFJ makes that I can actually recommend :)

I agree 100% with Radio. A great tool, saves on the finals, and I don't like MFJ much either. =]
If you have an antenna switch, this is an easy way to switch the analyzer inline to tune the antenna with a manual tuner or just to simply check it.

BTW this would have been a great topic for a new thread. Someone else will have a question on antenna tuners at some point. I don't understand why people are afraid or making a new topic! Someone may have that question now, and is not reading this thread.
 
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Holy thread resurrection, Batman! This one from before my NES birthday!

Since it involves amateur radio, along will be Mike shortly complaining about stinky hams. [laugh]
 
That's why I'm not going. I don't maskerbate publicly.
Maybe 1/3 less sellers.

A NH guy I know was horrified at the relatively low buyer headcount,
but it's just as well. I figure at least it won't get a reputation as a super-spreader event
that causes half the 1-zone 1x2 calls to be put back on the free list.

I improved my odds by getting a good parking space,
and then decimating my Howie podcast backlog in the car
rather than cool my heels in the Virus Corridor of Waititude.


I'd say that the Other Peoples' Rusty Crap
was at least half a notch more attractive than usual.
Thank God I have gotten a sense of what I'm in the market for,
or I might have actually bought a thing or two.
 
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