Kenwood TS-590S update

Posted on Wednesday December 15, 2010 by PA1JIM

Latest news on the ordered Kenwood TS-590S: it will arrive next week!

Ohw mama! I traded in my TS-850S and got a good deal from the Kenwood dealer. Already completely rebuild the shack. The 590 has 2 antenna connections I’m able to connect both my Cobwebb for 10, 12, 15, 17 and 20 meter and my horizontal loop for 40, 80 and 160 meter! So I don’t have to switch between antenna’s no more. In the future I could also use a extra (active) receiving antenna on the receive input of the 590.
Also great: no more need for the SignaLink USB. If I’m understand the manual correctly I can attach the 590 via USB to my computer and both CAT and sound are connected! That is awesome!
So the shackcomputer is already installed with both driver and Kenwood software.
I guess I’m all ready the welcome my new rig

Last week I did get the opportunity to listen to the new rig over at Robs, PA3EKE. Great guy (he did not hesitate inviting me over when he heard I wanted to listen to the new radio before buy one), took the time to show me around, absolutely lovely! He is known for his extremely critical opinion on radio’s. Even he was quite excited about the performance of the 590.
And I’m even more impressed by the real life performance of the 590! It’s really a great radio.

But for now I hope the new one will arrive next week before thursday. Then I’ll leave for another week in the France Alpes. Of course it would be great if I could run it a few hours over there More news and pictures will follow!

Broken antenna-wire due to wind

Posted on Friday November 12, 2010 by PA1JIM

Last night a nice storm is raging over the Lowlands. Wind speeds of 9 and sometimes even 10 Beaufort have destroyed my wire loop for 40 and 80m. Okay, it wasn’t very thick wire (0,38mm) but it looked like it could handle a breeze.
Luckily the Cobwebb holds on greatly! Only thing that moves are the wires on it, but I’m surprised the construction hold so well.
Waiting for calm wetter now to figure out a better structure for the wire…

Neighborhood noise

Posted on Friday April 30, 2010 by PA1JIM

The other day when I was testing my brand new Cobwebb antenna I noticed something weird. I worked a few stations (EA7IQQ, RV3DMX and RV9LM) and I was pretty happy with the results so far. So I went on the roof to do some finishing touch on the Cobwebb. A little tape here and there to make it a little more waterproof.
When I came back down and listen again, the noise level increased from S1-2 to S8-9! At first I was thinking: maybe the band just closed when I was on the roof. Still it’s a weird thing for the noise level to come up.

But then again I remembered changing something else: I rotate the Cobwebb to be able to reach the elements. So it was in a different position now. Not that that should matter, the Cobwebb is multi directional. Time for a new experiment: the XYL behind the s-meter and me on the roof turning the Cobwebb around. Results? When I turned the front side of the Cobwebb (where the element ends are bound together) to the east, noise level drops to S1-2. When I turned the front in any other direction, noise level increases from S5 till S9! If you take a look at the construction of the Cobwebb, you notice there is less length of element in the front side. Maybe the Cobwebb is multidirectional from a bigger distance, but maybe when a signal (interference) is nearby, the Cobwebb behaves a little directional. It seams like there is a big interference east from my house. When I look at the other side of the street, there is a big old peoples home there. Maybe the source of interference is located there. Time to find out more about this. Although not sure how to begin… Any tips?

First impression Cobwebb 0.2

Posted on Thursday April 29, 2010 by PA1JIM

A while ago I did a first try to build a Cobwebb antenna. I noticed that even on a very low operating height (about 2 meters above the ground) the Cobwebb received very well. Last weekend I did my second attempt to build a Cobwebb antenna for 10, 12, 15, 17 and 20 meter. Gave the construction a little more thought and this time I tuned the wires individually before putting the Cobwebb on the roof. I’ve made sure every element was resonant within the amateur band. No problems. When I put the Cobwebb on my dormer, this thing works like a charm!

On the receiving part I notice very strong signals. The signal strength seems the same as on the 3 elements beam over at the club. Weird thing though is sometimes at 20m suddenly there is an enormous noise level. Up to S8! But a little later the noise level drops to S1 or 2 and I hear a great deal of signals from all over the world. Can it be the opening and closing of the band?

BPSK31 first contacts

Posted on Friday April 23, 2010 by PA1JIM

Lately I’m not doing well on the antenna area. I did pull down the multiband dipole because it was really a horrible sight from the back garden. Then I put down the Antron 99A because it wasn’t giving the performance I hoped for (I couldn’t use it for 20m anyway). And the Cobwebb is still under construction which give a little delay because of the DYI-stuff I have to do around the house at the moment. So the only antenna I now use is a single wire which I draped over the roof. More of less in a square, 20 meters long.
I’ve noticed a pretty nice receiving signal in SSB but (of course) transmitting is awful. Not been able to make a single contact in SSB.
But the other day I got an idea: why not trying BPSK31?! So when I fired up the Signalink USB I started making QSO’s! A lot of European Russia (UA3PI, UA3GX, RA3FO, RN3DY, RX3DD, RU3EJ) but after trying a little harder I also contacted Croatia (9A6DJM), Ukraine (UX1MW, UX1LN) and Romania (YO3JX). This turns out to be fun! Fine tuning my macro’s a little here and there.
Seems that my wire on the roof has a liking for the east, don’t know why since it lays out in a square. But hey, it’s nice working till I’ve get my Cobwebb up and running!

Cobwebb version 0.1

Posted on Sunday February 28, 2010 by PA1JIM

After studying several articles on the webs I tried to figure out a concept construction for my first Cobwebb antenna. An awful lot of tie wraps, a few fishing rods and a almost 50 meters of electrical wire. A few hours DIY in the rain and you see the result beneath. First test results: even at only 2,5 meter height very nice reception! In comparison to my end fed wire it’s a lot less noisy and picks up even very weak signals. Last night I was even listening to local QSO’s of amateurs in North America on 20m! Transmitting is another story on this height of course. No one heard me since, but almost all dipoles are resonant in the band and SWR is good. I think it will be even better when it’s on good operating height of 10 meters. I’m planning to put it on a pole on the roof, then it will be 14 meters high and more ore less 360 degrees free around.
The construction is of course just for testing purposes only. I need to construct another feed point which is waterproof. I’m not satisfied with the tie wrap solution to attach the wires to the spreaders. I think it’s not UV-proof too. I’m thinking about drilling little holes in the spreader to put little screws in them. And the end of the dipole wires I want some elastic pieces in. Then the wires will be tight all the time. Just haven’t figure out what to use for the elastic material yet.
And the baseplate needs some adjustment too, no possibility to attach a vertical pole in it now and the spreaders are not properly aligned. So need to do some rework… Then again, it’s only version 0.1!

PA1JIM

eNotes & net.presence of Jim

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