Author Topic: Roll up J-pole  (Read 11727 times)

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Celt

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #15 on: February 14, 2016, 03:44:43 PM »
Yes, that might be way too far a stretch.

Celt

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #16 on: February 21, 2016, 07:22:36 PM »
Went out camping over the weekend at about 5,500 ft. I set up the J-pole in a nearby pine tree and was in business on the 2m repeaters. I was able to use the little 5w Yaesu and get out well over 100 miles away with really good clarity on un-linked repeaters.

Quiet1

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #17 on: February 21, 2016, 08:04:42 PM »
I was able to use the little 5w Yaesu and get out well over 100 miles away with really good clarity on un-linked repeaters.
Oh curse you and your extremely large, varied elevations! :)   It is a challenge to punch 30 miles through these piney flatlands with a beam and 75w.  I can only dream of that kind of coverage with an HT.  Going by the h^2 term in the Egli equation, that's like a free 47 dB over my 25' backyard tower.  Handheld to 100+ miles, good job!
North of the salt, south of I-10.

Celt

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #18 on: February 21, 2016, 09:38:48 PM »
Oh curse you and your extremely large, varied elevations! :)   It is a challenge to punch 30 miles through these piney flatlands with a beam and 75w.  I can only dream of that kind of coverage with an HT.  Going by the h^2 term in the Egli equation, that's like a free 47 dB over my 25' backyard tower.  Handheld to 100+ miles, good job!

 Thanks much for the nice comments! It stinks you don't have better coverage there where you are. Have you entertained the idea of making your own mobile repeater? That may increase your range quite a bit more than you have now if you can get it placed in a decent spot? Around here we have a lot of land that's sea level but there are lots of big mountain ranges with really well placed repeaters everywhere. The spots that are blocked by shadowing you can get around pretty easy by jumping over to a different repeater once you get familiar with their coverage. If you are setup right you can get amazing simplex coverage from time to time.

While most  of this stuff is probably old hat to the really experienced guys, I'm still very excited about doing this stuff as I've only been licensed about three years now. I was having a hoot sitting up there and talking to guys where it sounded like they were right next to me on that little handheld. In the end, it's more about emergency communications for me but learning how to do everything is a lot of fun. I've already met a lot of very nice and helpful people in the HAM community.

Quiet1

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #19 on: February 21, 2016, 11:31:14 PM »
Celt, it's all about getting height on my end.  I can hit 3 2m repeaters from home consistently, and 3 more that can usually be brought in with the beam; those are all we have here anyway.  Given the little bit of traffic, that's more than enough.  I guess that I could set up a cross-band repeater easily enough if I wanted to wander the yard with an HT though.  There's not a single bit of triple-digit elevation here until you get 20+ miles inland – and even then it's still pretty flat.

100 miles from a HT though, that is cool.  As you said, it's good to have it for emergency comms when you're out in the boonies.
North of the salt, south of I-10.

Celt

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #20 on: February 22, 2016, 02:37:02 AM »
I'm often curious about places like that and what the possibilities are? For instance, those really tall community water towers or grain silos. I always wonder if they could suffice as a decent spot for a repeater setup with a nice ground plain or would it not be effective? Many of them are pretty high up and if you could get permission they might serve as decent repeaters with a solar power setup. I have seen the radio towers in the Midwest that rival that of massive sky scraper buildings along the east coast that I think might be a really decent place for a repeater if placed properly and able to power it. I would suppose there is a very large amount of permitting and restrictions involved as per the usual. I'm limited to the 2m 70cm bands until I upgrade my license but before I do any of that, I really want to fully understand all of this versus just studying and passing an exam. Hopefully I'm not thread jacking my on thread with all these questions.

AD

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #21 on: February 22, 2016, 09:17:44 AM »
Celt

You started the thread so you can take it where you want to go.  No worries about hijacking.

I applaude your "understand before taking the test", but I have a different view.

Although studying for all three elements gave me new info on the subject, I learn more after getting licensed. 

The rule are set up and as long as you follow them, go for it. 

If you can afford a HF radio now then by all means, study and take the test. 

There is a 11 yo girl Faith Hanna who just passed her Extra and is one of the hottest "gets" when she is on the air.  She certainly does not fully understand every segment of the Amateur Extra material but she passed the exam and has access to all of the "Extra" bandwidth and privileges.  She passed the exam and as such is entilted to those privileges.



https://www.qrz.com/db/AE4FH/?mlab=


Her sister Hope 9 yo just gave a talk to Old Diminion University Engineering School on ham radio satellite comms.









You goal should be to pass the exam and then promise to continue to learn.  Strive to be the best operator you can be, and DO NOT BE LIKE THE GUYS ON 14.313!!!!!  :o
 
« Last Edit: February 22, 2016, 09:36:16 AM by AD »
The only dumb question is the one that did not get asked!!

Celt

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #22 on: February 22, 2016, 11:43:30 AM »
That's really great when you hear of those kids getting licensed like that. I'm sure you are right about getting licensed then learning what you need to know. Some of my concerns are I don't understand many of the concepts that are on the test. I just need to sit down with someone who can thoroughly explain everything to me in the areas I do not understand. It's mainly just time and learning. After I got my Tech license I felt like I knew zero about it which was true. Now, I'm learning about all kinds of fun stuff and putting it into practice which is the way I best learn.

AD

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #23 on: February 22, 2016, 01:40:05 PM »
Ask questions here, get the ARRL books, many online sites have info.

Here are some links to sites
http://www.preparedham.com/forums/index.php?topic=19.0

If you can afford ~$30 look into www.hamtestonline.com.

I used it for all three elements

Here is the study method for HTOL I wrote up
http://www.preparedham.com/forums/index.php?topic=57.0
« Last Edit: February 22, 2016, 01:43:20 PM by AD »
The only dumb question is the one that did not get asked!!

Celt

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #24 on: February 23, 2016, 03:08:31 AM »
Hey thanks a lot, I really appreciate it! I used Ham test online for my Tech and it really helped me I believe. I have been studying (In earnest) with it for my General but I still find myself scratching my head a lot with that "Whhhaaatttt" look on my face. I'll try and chime in a little bit more on the other threads when I have some questions.

AD

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #25 on: February 23, 2016, 09:09:06 AM »
Please do.  We have a ton of smart people on here. .....many way smarter than me wrt ham radio. 

Ask away.
The only dumb question is the one that did not get asked!!

Lamewolf

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #26 on: February 26, 2016, 04:15:31 PM »
My buddy gave me a really nice home made J-pole roll up antenna to toss into my pack. I was wondering if any of you could chime in on how much coax I might realistically need to get this deployed and in use with my Yaesu FT 270R handheld. I want to keep it compact and easy to deploy without a lot of bells and whistles i.e. 550 cord and a found rock tied onto said cord to get the antenna to desired location. Any cautions other than not tossing it up into a power line (I do not wish to be Ben Franklin) or ideas on how to optimize it's effectiveness when in field use would be greatly appreciated. I often go into some pretty rugged desert where there are no trees but steep washes and hilltops that could be hiked up and placed but I don't think this could be optimal for this type of antenna?

I would keep a small cloth pouch in the go bag that has a key ring attached.  Fill it with sand or dirt and tie that on the 550 cord and it won't hurt near as bad if it hits someone on the way down.  By filling it on site, the pouch adds next to no weight at all to the go bag.

Celt

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #27 on: February 26, 2016, 11:11:16 PM »
That's not a bad idea at all and I might very well do that as another option. Especially on windshields and kids running around...  :o I picked up a #6 flat sinker to toss in there. Having enough weight to pull the 550 cord across some of the rougher limbs can be an issue from time to time.

W.Lynn

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Re: Roll up J-pole
« Reply #28 on: April 24, 2016, 03:34:47 PM »
Hey thanks a lot, I really appreciate it! I used Ham test online for my Tech and it really helped me I believe. I have been studying (In earnest) with it for my General but I still find myself scratching my head a lot with that "Whhhaaatttt" look on my face. I'll try and chime in a little bit more on the other threads when I have some questions.

Tabbed browsing is your friend when you're studying, have wiki open and ready, have your favorite search ready, anything else you want.  When those head scratching subjects come along, you look it up as many ways as you can until it clicks.