Antennas, experiments, engineering and other articles of interest to radio folks.
An old Johnson Kilowatt Matchbox worked perfectly with a 135 foot ladder fed antenna at Field Day 2008.
During our Field Day 2008, we experimented with many power options. Since it is a well known fact many UPS devices are not compatible with the power generated by certain generators, we will report the combinations that work.
Field Day 2008 was great for us. Our wide area wireless network worked pretty well and every station could monitor progress of the whole group.
This year we extensively used the “operator initials” field in the N3FJP Field Day Network 2.8 logging software package. Operators used their call-sign as their ‘initials’ while honored guests used their actual initials.
The site-wide log offered many great analysis possibilities. One particularly interesting metric we tracked this year was QSO rates. We generated graphs of QSO totals vs. Time Between QSOs. Here is an example of the entire log…
It is well known many models of UPS units do not like the power from motor power portable generators. Indeed it is a difficult task to keep the sine wave pristine when you don’t have the benefit of hundreds of square miles of the power network feeding you an almost infinite about of energy. Here is an example of the waveform from a truck mounted generator delivering much less power than its rated output… about 100 watts from a 5,000 watt generator.
The manual for the Honda EU2000 clearly states this, but you need to be sure you adjust that little circular knob on the Fuel Cap to the operating position or the generator will certainly quit after a few minutes operation.
Well not really attracts lightning, but certainly allows for more pickup of lightning energy.
Last night on our Sunday Night Tech Net (Fauquier County, VA Repeater) a fellow named Bob brought up the topic of proper grounding for his upcoming coax fed 40 meter antenna. During the discussion about common ground points and other relating lightning protection possibilities, he recalled a story.