Archive Page #1
January 2003
1-25-2003 We put up a dipole for monitoring HF.
1-19-2003 We
build Antenna #2 (J-Pole)
I visited Mr. Geo's neighborhood (KC0OSF) and I learned a lot about how to and how not to build a j-pole or "copper cactus" antenna. The main thing to remember is always follow the instructions, and NEVER solder the hot side to the 1/4 wave section! NASA I think we have a problem!
1-18-2003 The SMA fitting arrives allowing me to hook my Tri-Bander up to the roof antenna. I have noted a major improvement in reception.
1-17-2003 The Frequency Page is up and running.
1-12-2003 We build an Antenna!
Today I went over to "Geo's Neighborhood" and we built a couple of ground plane antennas right out of the good ole' ARRL Handbook.
Geo measures up the situation!
Geo gets out the ole' BLOWTORCH!
John (KC0OSG) inspects the second unit 
Let's hook this sucker up!
Hard to see but on top of the orange PVC tube lies our
finished product.
They sure worked swell! I wasn't able to hear the repeater at my house and now with this little sucker I can receive the Akron repeater with a nine signal strength. We couldn't transmit at Geo's house until we hooked this up to his HT. Then we got the repeater to chirp up just fine. It's just amazing what a little antenna can do for propagation. We had a great time tonight listening to the Akron repeater and using simplex communications to talk back and forth from each others house. Geo lives about 3-4 miles away but it sounded like he was just next door.
1-09-2003 NEW GEAR arrives
The new gear got here on the 9th of January, as planned, all parts are in good shape and should be running very soon!
Augie even sent me a bonus channel so now we just need to get licensed for 10,15,20,40,and 80 meters and we are up and running. Time to study the code!
1-06-2003 Geo (KC0OSF) gets his new HTs from good ole' EBAY.com
Geo checking out a vintage Radio Shack 2-Meter HT
George Stafford ordered a pair of HTs from Ebay.com and I was lucky enough to get some time to stop by his place and check them out. Back in the days these radios were new, you only had one band....HT radios sure have come a long way. My new ICOM IC-T90A has three different bands plus the weather NOAA channel and receive frequencies galore!
