HF Where to Start

[Aaron Boushley]

Hey,

So I started with VHF/UHF on a baofeng HT. I've upgraded to an Ed's Antenna hooked up to an SDRPlay for listening in, and I'll have a Kenwood TM-V71A hooked up to it soon.

And now I'm interested in experimenting with HF. As I'm looking at what it'll take to get into HF I'm wondering if there's particular HF bands that would be interesting to start on to experiment with distant SSB. Not necessarily extreme distance, but more of an emergency communication out of the area prep.

Any recommendations on HF antennas would also be appreciated. I'm probably going to have to start with something that's fairly covert. Thinking of starting by laying a di-pole wire antenna on my roof.

Thanks in advance for your time!

Aaron

[Joe Decuir]

Replies in-line

 

From: issaqu...@googlegroups.com <issaqu...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Aaron Boushley
Sent: Thursday, December 2, 2021 10:24 PM
To: Issaquah Amateur Radio Club IARC <issaqu...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [IARC] HF Where to Start

 

Hey,

 

Joe: before he died, my father-in-law Dave Round (KF7BMC) bought an IC-718, a 6-band vertical antenna, and an antenna tuner.  Since we originally had only Technician licenses, we hunted around and found beacons to listen to, and looked for conversations to listen on.

Suggestion: if you don’t have a General License yet, use what you have to listen.

You need the license to reply.

 

Unfortunately, Dave died before he got his General License.  I inherited that HF gear.

Since then:

• Earned General and Extra licenses, and became a VE
• Installed a Greyline DX flagpole antenna, conduit and coax, and got on HF

• Loaned 6-band vertical to Miguel Huerta

• Upgraded to an IC-7300 transceiver (adds 6M)
• Built a portable HF antenna following Mihai’s recommendation: Opek HVT-400B
• Successfully tested HF & 6M back-to-back, set power at 1W
• Tested the HF and portable antenna on my boat during Field Day

 

So I started with VHF/UHF on a baofeng HT. I've upgraded to an Ed's Antenna hooked up to an SDRPlay for listening in, and I'll have a Kenwood TM-V71A hooked up to it soon.

 

Joe: yes, even if you don’t have General privileges yet, by all means listen in!

 

And now I'm interested in experimenting with HF. As I'm looking at what it'll take to get into HF I'm wondering if there's particular HF bands that would be interesting to start on to experiment with distant SSB. Not necessarily extreme distance, but more of an emergency communication out of the area prep.

 

Joe: if you want coaching on building a vertical HF-VHF antenna, I will be happy to help.

The trick: how do you ground it?  I attached mine to a tripod, and grounded with copper plate.

I am interested in EmComm.  My next moves: install WinLink for HF and for VHF.

I work with some IEEE people associated with the MOVE trucks; that is what they do.

 

Any recommendations on HF antennas would also be appreciated. I'm probably going to have to start with something that's fairly covert. Thinking of starting by laying a di-pole wire antenna on my roof.

 

Joe: do you have an HOA to wrestle with?

My neighbors don’t mind my Greyline DX Flagpole antenna.

The smallest one they make is 12’.  The portable HF, on a tripod, is 6’.

 

Thanks in advance for your time!

 

Aaron

--
Your group manager is ba...@k7bwh.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Issaquah Amateur Radio Club" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to issaquah-arc...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/issaquah-arc/881b6d78-44a5-47d1-b591-9c1445d1f812%40www.fastmail.com.

[bob...@gmail.com]

Joe’s advice is good.  You don’t want to lay a dipole on your roof.  It will pick up all the QRN from all the RF noisy things in your house.  If you limit yourself to a single band, I suggest 20M.  It is a more gentlemanly band and lately is open for longer periods of time.  40M would be my next choice. 

 

Building a multi-band antenna is not difficult if you have a good antenna tuner.  For 10 years I used a endfed random wire with a 9:1 balun in Arizona.  Our HOA had a strict no ham antenna rule but they neve saw my antenna.  I used Wireman 534 26ga copper coated steel wire for my antenna and still use it for portable antennas due to its small size and weight - 534-Antenna Wire, 26 AWG Copper-Clad Steel Stranded Jacketed - The Wireman.  I hid the 9:1 balun under the eaves at 19’ and used 53’ of wire sloping to the back of my lot.  The far end was only 3’ off the ground.  The only time anyone could see the antenna was when a hummingbird sat on it and even then they thought the hummingbird was floating.  With this antenna and 100w I worked all 50 states and over 100 countries.  It would load up on 80M through 10M.  It was a great NVIS antenna for my stint passing traffic on the Arizona Emergency and Traffic Net.  You can buy 9:1 baluns or you can build your own using these directions - https://groups.io/g/QRPp/files/9-1%20Unun%20Project%20Info/PNW%20QRP%20Unun%20and%20Wire%20Antenna%20Project%20Instructions.pdf.  I used 50ft of coax as a counterpoise on the antenna with most of it coiled on the ground outside the entrance panel.  A 1:1 choke at the entrance panel will keep any stray RF out of the shack.  The 1:1 choke can be turns of your coax wound around a 2.4” Mix 31 toroid. 

 

HF can be a lot of fun.  Rarely will you call CQ on HF and not get a response.  Many times the only thing you hear on repeaters is crickets.  Even though you can talk with people all over the world using a cell phone, it’s a lot more fun doing it with HF radio and a home built antenna.  If you do get into HF, check out digital modes like FT8.  It’s not conversational but you can work DXCC using FT8, simple antennas, and low power. 

 

Bob AF9W

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/issaquah-arc/012401d7e817%2435757160%24a0605420%24%40gmail.com.

[Aaron Boushley]

Hey,

Thanks for all the advice!

Joe:

I ended up getting my general a couple of weeks ago. Studied up with an online tool and then took one of the tests over zoom. So I got the license piece taken care of. That said I'm hoping to get an antenna put together for HF, and then listen in with my SDR for a few months while I save up for and research which HF transceiver base station I want to get.

I'm definitely interested in seeing the flagpole antenna you have setup. Mind if I come by some time and take a look?

Winlink is definitely on my list of things to setup and try out, and I know I can do it via the VHF setup I already have. I experimented with doing APRS via my phone and a Bluetooth TNC.

I do not have an HOA to deal with thankfully. However my wife wants things to be pretty low visibility if at all possible.

Bob:

That random wire setup sounds like it worked great for you, and I can see how that would be really low visibility. Thanks for sharing those details!

Lara:

I would be really interested in coming by sometime and seeing your setup. I'm leaving town to see some family this weekend, but maybe next week or next weekend?

Thanks again for all the input, it's clear I have lots of experimentation and things to learn as I progress here.

Aaron

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/issaquah-arc/027a01d7e861%246ca392d0%2445eab870%24%40gmail.com.

[Rod Johnson]

Aaron,

  As Bob mentioned, an end-fed (EFHW) is only a single wire, so it is very covert, and effective.

    Depending upon your specific physical layout, a dipole may fit your lot better, but is is still only a small wire, so it will blend into the background and few would notice it.  

  A single small wire out to a tree, sloped up or down or horizontal is probably the easiest and quickest way to get on HF.

  For receiving only, length is not a concern.

  Twenty to forty feet of a random wire will receive a LOT of signals.  Dimensions only become an issue for transmitting, and even then there are a lot of ways to use seemingly random lengths.

  Rod Johnson

-----Original Message-----
From: Aaron Boushley <aa...@boushley.cc>
To: Issaquah Amateur Radio Club IARC <issaqu...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thu, Dec 2, 2021 10:23 pm
Subject: [IARC] HF Where to Start