What’s been going on with AD7MI?

It’s been a busy summer so far.

– Memorial Day: I really enjoyed the special event station operation – W4M. I operated from Fort Monroe on Saturday and Sunday from a WWII coastal artillery battery overlooking the Chesapeake, wonderful weather and some great contacts. I setup a G5RV for the antenna and used a portable generator for power.

– The Smithsonian, NN3SI: During my trip to Washington DC, I had the opportunity to be a guest operator at the Smithsonian’s own amateur radio station, located at the Museum of American History.

– Lighthouse Activations: Enjoyed a relaxing few days down in the Outer Banks, NC and was able to activate the Bodie Island Lighthouse (USA-067) and the Currituck Beach Lighthouse (USA-212). Link here to the Outer Banks Repeater Association: http://obra.aginet.com/

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From : W2EHD
To : ad7mi
Subject : Re: 442.850

Scott – It was a pleasure to meet you – if only on the air.
Re: the the UHF side of the mobile radio. Might consider selecting medium or low power when running mobile – especially when the repeater of choice is not far away.
–
I am sending along a URL for a tape measure beam. Originally, I think the author meant to use it in DFing – Direction-finding – competitions – but despite the fact that it’s rather ugly and makes lots of noise when the wind blows the elements – it seems the ideal solution for accessing a repeater from a remote (vacation) location.
I bought an el cheapo grande 25 ft. tape measure a few years ago, and 8 bucks worth of the PVC tubing he recommends.
There are several of these antennae in my workshop. One thing I did was to cast a couple of concrete bases – using galvanized pails that I bought at ACE.
One 60-odd bag of Sak-Crete will let you make a couple of bases. Glue some scrap carpeting to the bottom and you’ve got built-on floor protection.

As presently described, the tape measure antenna is only good on 2 meters. The author mentions that it may well be possible to change the element dimensions and spacing to put it into the UHF portion of the spectrum. I may try one out on 70 cm, with a watt meter in the line, just for grins.
Keep in touch.
If you wish, I will add your address to the OBRA email list, which will keep you informed about major doings around here. You would not get a lot of mail from OBRA, believe me.
73,
Jack
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Next project: I’m working on a portable HF/VHF/UHF system. Intent is to build a complete setup (rig, power supply, tuner, SWR meter, NOMIC RigBlaster, etc.) into an easily transportable box.