Overland Bound Net Friday April 3, 2020
Net Control: WD6TED Ted Thompson OB# 13782
Topic: New Hams Net!
19 check-ins including NCS
1) KT4OZ - Terry - Covington VA - OB# 3710: He is homebound and working on his differentials and bent rear axle. Terry contributed to other subjects during the course of net.
2) K7XPO - Brien - Tuscon AZ - OB# 2553: Not much time with Ham Radio lately and has been stuck at home as well. He is thinking it would be a good time to start working on his digital transceiver kit that does FT-8 and other protocols. He is also working on the wiring harness in his rig.
3) KE8AYE - Jason - Fairfield OH - OB# 17839 - wanted info on where to find on-line ham exam sessions. Ed posted the following link:
USA conducts first all-online ham radio exam | Southgate Amateur Radio News
4) NB9D - Neil - Somewhere off-grid in Maine - Minimal effect from the virus outbreak as they are in place at home riding out the winter and mud season.
5) K7KEG - David - Foothills outside of Tuscon - He is a full-time RVer and 4x4. Listening in on the Arizona repeater.
6) KI5BEE/VE3 - Calvin - Ontario Canada. Looking for suggestions for entry level radios for SOTA. Brien recommended QRP Labs QCX
5W CW transceiver kit. The Yaesu FT-857 is a very popular radio in the $500 - $1000 space.
Welcome to Yaesu.com The Elecraft KX-2 and KX-3 are also very popular but are pricey
KX-Line.
It wasn't brought up in the net, but the LNR Moutain Topper is also a very popular radio with SOTA people:
https://www.lnrprecision.com/mountain-toppers/ The subject of antennas for SOTA was also brought up. The Par EndFez trail-friendly 10-20-40 is a very popular antenna
Par EndFedz® EFT-10/20/40 Trail Friendly Sotabeams in the UK make a terrific 20-30-40 dipole that is very light and easy to setup and can be purchased through dxengineering
Parts and Accessories
Additionally just two wires connected binding posts work just fine too.
7) W7BR - Brent - Olympia WA - OB# 2616 - uses a lot of portable antennas and really like the Scorpion antenna on his rig
Scorpion Antennas . More info on that just contact him here on the forum.
8) VA2EEK - Don - Gatineau QC - Been working on DMR and feels he's got it down and is getting good at programing them. Uses an Anyone 868 (w/o bluetooth and APRS) and for SAR work uses the 578.
AnyTone Radios
9) KJ7KPP - Colton - Pocatello IN - was looking for suggestions on HF antennas for 160 - 10m. This of course lead to a lot of discussion. Brent likes the Maxconus off center fed dipole
http://maxconus.com Terry really like the fan dipole that he built himself. I use a 71' "random" wire antenna with a Palomar-Engineers 9:1 UNUN
Bullet End Fed 500/1500 Watt Antenna (1.8-61 MHz) - 55-203 FT I use the 71' version with a 52' and 2 12' counterpoise wires. The 53' was my own addition and runs directly under the main antenna. I use it for 80 - 10 meters and got out on 160m with it the other day (though it's not rated for that). An antenna tuner is a must with this sort of antenna. Will also mentioned getting the antenna app that runs on Android phones. He believes the best antenna for a new ham is
one you built yourself. Ed found this link during the net and posted it:
https://kx3helper.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/endfed-antenna-info-sheet.pdf
N8MXG - Ron - Riverview MI - Nothing heard
KM4MAR - Chris - Stephens City VA - Just joined the net because he was on the Virginia repeater. Just enjoying listening in.
W8ILL - Bill - Taylor MI - see comments he made above.
KI5ING - Andrew - Pfugerville TX - Nothing heard
N7PHY - ED - Edmonds WA - Been ver busy with work so haven't done a lot of radio activity. He recently purchased the ICOM IC-9700 VHF/UHF and 1200MHz
IC-9700 VHF/UHF Transceiver - Features - Icom America He also got new QSL cards (good for you Ed!).
KI7RAM - Bill - Reno NV - Nothing heard
VK7VWK - Randall - Tasmania Australia - Not a lot happening in radio recently. Just listening in.
KN4QMN - Jason - Blacksburg VA - Trying to study for his general license. Thinking of getting an Icom 7300
IC-7300 HF/50MHz TRANSCEIVER - Features - Icom America He is also interested in getting into SOTA.
KC8FQV - Mark - Aurora OH - nothing heard
The net concluded at 19:03 PDT.
Thanks everyone for joining in this evening. It was a fun net!
Be well, stay safe, and BE HAPPY!
73 de WD6TED - Ted
