VE7TK – How I spent my summer “vacation”
Rick Williams VE7TK sent me a PDF with numerous photos detailing how he spent his summer vacation. You can find the file “SteppIR Rebuild” under the Downloads tab. A very good read.
Coffee Shack – July 14th
IslandHF’s monthly Coffee Shack continues to be a favorite activity for its members. The July 14th edition saw nine members sit down for some animated and cheery conversations.
Dan Wilson VE7VNA brought along a older antenna tuner which he hopes to integrate into this “shack”. Pierre VE7AL brought along a venerable Kenwood TS-140S which he sold to Dan. Interesting goings-on happening at the “Shack”.
Dan was really busy because he also met with Alan Mallet VE7AWM who dropped by. Alan was greeted by all members around the table.
Drop by for next month’s Coffee Shack – August 11th.
2025 Field Day feedback
I agree that field day for us was a success. Good companionship, fine weather, and a beautiful location although a few more QSOs would have been the icing on the cake
Roger has written about the two antenna types below so the only additions I would make is that verticals with radials on the ground (the Chameleon) are inherently inefficient because of ground losses. Add in matching transformer losses and much precious power has gone to waste.
Alan’s POTA antenna should be better because the radials are elevated and there are no matching transformers to confuse the situation. Note that the link provided by Roger refers to tuned radials. Were Alan’s radials tuned? Without measuring the current in each radial we do not know. The link also refers to placement of the radials to obtain directivity. The EZNEC plots shown in the link are impressive, but the real world situation can be quite different with trees and bushes in the way.
Those of us at last year’s IHF field day will recall that the CW station using the vertical had a hard time making QSOs and I think we were running 100W. I will add that the antenna was not in the greatest of locations
What do we do for next year? I have always favoured doublet/dipole antennas even in an inverted V configuration and would suggest we consider this for next year.
Now to get set-up for the Canada Day contest starting tomorrow!
73 Brian VE7JKZ