The AM Forum

New Aerial at W1UJR

Thanks to the efforts of Dale KW1I and Larry NE1S, amateur radio station W1UJR is now formally on the air from the home QTH.
For the first time since moving to Maine in 2000, I can walk upstairs and fire up the wireless.

Braving both snow and cold, remember this was March 4 in the middle of the Maine winter, the 160 meter dipole - fed with balanced line of course, took to the air at the new W1UJR QTH in Woolwich, Maine.

The first AM contact was with, appropriately enough, the legendary Timtron WA1HLR, who gave us an excellent signal report.
Once the weather warms up, we will of course apply a liberal coating of Marconi Antenna Wax, supplied by my friend Tom W2KBW.

(http://www.brucehowes.com/images/KW1I%20and%20NE1S%20160%20Meter%20Antenna%20Installation1.jpg)

The Moment of Truth - On Air Testing

(http://brucehowes.com/images/KW1I%20and%20NE1S%20160%20Meter%20Antenna%20Installation2.jpg)

While Dale operates the ricebox, Larry prefers a more vintage rig.

(http://www.brucehowes.com/images/KW1I%20and%20NE1S%20160%20Meter%20Antenna%20Installation5.jpg)

A shot of that majestic antenna, silhouetted against the Maine coast sunset.

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Is that cracks in the wall between the boards?  If so, did it help to move it there?  Looks cold to me.

Nice antenna! A real FLAT top. Cool.

I guess that's your radio shack in the pix. Reminds me of mine (currently in the garage with exposed timbers just like yours). It gets cold in the garage even way down south here in VA. How do you keep yours warm?

Toobes, you need toobes, and lots of them just to keep the shack warm.  I bet Tim could give you a couple of racks of stuff and not even notice them gone.

Hi guys,

Have to give Dale credit on the antenna, really worked out very well with no center support!

I have to figure out the heat angle. Just purchased the home and barn last month and have not yet done anything to get barn in order. The gaps between the boards are an interior wall, so no problem there.

Thinking that come spring I'll have it insulated, sheetrocked and install a nice furnace. A little too cold to do to much now.

Right now I operate from the house!

By next winter we'll have the barn in proper order for 4 season operations.

Bruce, It looks EXCELENT!!!!!!!!!

What kind of ladder line is that?  FYI. Just about every night starting around 6:30 PM we have a nice group on 1.930.

Hi Terry, the antenna and ladder line are from W7FG.
Very reasonable price, not even worth trying to homebrew.
I believe he uses black plastic irigation tubing as the spacers.

I picked one of these units for the office hamshack in Dec. 2003, it worked so well I bought another for the use.

Thanks for the invite!
Even though it is a 160 meter dipole, I have not yet tried it on 160, just 75 meters. Its too cold to operate from the barn, so I use a Johnson Matchbox located in the barn to connect to coax. I then have the coax running into the house, about 100 feet. So when I want to bandswitch, I need to run out to the barn and do the tuning.

-Bruce


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I am jealous Bruce.

Beautiful location OM

I have been looking for something  like that for years.

The hook looks great!

Good luck

When do I get to talk to the "Voice of Syracuse"?

I have missed you on the bands OM.

-Bruce



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Bruce...

Bravo!, Nice hook, nice place, and nice friends!

73's

Bruce,
         Congradulations and hope to work you with your new antenna this weeeknd.

Brother Joe,

I will be on this weekend, any more "Trans-Atlantic" tests scheduled?

The antenna plays very well, except the tuner is in the barn, so band changes involve a trip outside.

Great pics Bruce thanks for sharing them with us. Cant wait to work ya on 160 or maybe 75. The way 75 has been lately, I avoid it. Anyway, TNX again.

Ah Bruce,
I wish I had the time to put up an ant at my place. Maybe I should
shoot a few ropes through the trees before everything gets green.
I'm hoping I can convince my next door neighbor that my antenna in
his tree will protect him from lightning.  I only have 175 feet so need
one more suppport to get a full sized 160 M ant.  Beautiful spot!
How far away is the water?

I'll be listening for you on 160 over the weekend, Bruce.  Congrats on the new ant.  And hats off to Larry (recall the Del Shannon song of that title?) and Dale for coming over to help you.   You can truly call the new place yours now that there's wire overhead.

Thanks for the kind words Frank.
Brookings Bay is right across the street and down a hill.
I am on the "poor" side of the street!

I think is why the antenna works so well.
Combined with Dale and Larry's great efforts stringing it through the trees, I am on a bit of a hill overlooking the bay.

Thankfully, no RF noise generators about to cause interference.Hi Paul,

Christine was not exactly impressed when she arrived home yesterday and saw it.

But, you have to ask yourself; What is really more important - women or radio?

Yup,
I'm also on the poor side of the street. I'm about 2/10 from the beach
about 12 houses away. I have the Rocky Neck State Park salt marsh
across the street. The house is up about 30 feet above the marsh
with a couple oaks up another 75 feet.  Only have wire in the attic so far but it is nice and quiet. I have been day dreaming of an antenna all morming since your post.   You won't want to take a walk on the beach
with your radio so keep the wife.

Bruce,
         Tentatively, the Europeans may try to work us on 75M. We'll have to do split frequency, as we did on 160M. The tentative freqs are 3705 rx and 3880/5 for the US to transmit. I'll post something to the board if it's a definite.

Fortunately, it'll be easier for us to communicate on 75M, but unfortunately due to the possibility of QRM, etc, it may not be. It's a catch 22 situation.

I'm really looking forward to hearing you on the bands this weekend and think it's terrific that you finally have a new "skyhook" to play radio with. Thanks to you and friends your dream has become a reality. With the new digs and "radio lodge" (to quote Paul, WA3VJB), you'll be able to spend countless hours having fun on the air. I know you'll be busy working on your new place, but hope you can spend man a night on the air. I for one, will be on 160M throughout the warm weather, and perhaps we'll all get a break once in a while with diminished QRN.

What station do you have setup for 160M and 75M work?

If you need anything (station accessories, etc) to get things going let me know. I'm as close as your computer and mailbox!

Again, looking forward to hearing you modulate the ether and best regards.

I know that tune.  Thankfully, we've got
tall trees on our property so my ants
for 160 and 75 are hidden aloft and
coax fed.  Getting the 40 meter dipole
fed with ladderline off the side of the
house took some arguing, though.  

Women or radio?  An unhappy radio
is nowhere near as dangerous as an
unhappy woman.

A happy woman is good when conditions are bad.
An unhappy woman is bad when conditions are good.

Some thoughts on women and radios....

Radios don't demand or expect you to buy expensive glittery stones for birthday, anniversary and Christmas.

Radios are easily muted by turning down the AF gain.

Radios keep you warm at night (at least tube radios).

Radios don’t put on weight or produce little radios.

Radios look better the older they get, in fact radios with wrinkled skin are much sought after.

Radios don’t mind when you bring home other radios.


Ok guys; keep it rolling….add your two cents.

This is very true but:
Your radio won't cook a meal.
A radio won't clean up after you.
A radio won't wash your dirty clothes.
A radio won't call for help in case of a heart attack.
You can't blame your radio for a misplaced tool.
I'm not looking for a radio to look at on the beach.
You can't interface with your radio without getting hurt.

You can get into more trouble looking at a new woman than a
new radio though.

I must be missing out on something here;
Who cooks your meals?
Washes your dirty clothes?
Cleans up after you?

I hear you Frank, but addressing your points in order:

1) Diners, TV dinners and microwaves.

2) 33 gallon trash bags, dishwashers and rollaround trash cans. Every 6 months, call in a maid service for comprehensive scrubbing and polishing.

3) Radios don't give you the stress that causes heart attacks.

4) Get a dog and blame him/her.

5)  Take a radio to the beach.  When tired of listening, turn it off.  Try that with a woman.

6)  Ouch!  Point conceded, but purely on the basis of cost, all services provided by woman can be purchased from independent contractors and overall you'll save money.   Then take money you saved and buy more radios.

I get table scraps from the kid's meals.
My small amount of dirty clothes blend right into the flow from harmonics.
XYL doesn't clean the shack area though.
I cut the lawn and move the snow XYL does the inside stuff.
I do the major repairs she helps with the clean up.

Our first total agreement on the new QTH, Corian color for master bathroom counter top. Shock almost killed both of us.
Harmonics were even surprised.

Paul,
Very easy to turn any woman off ... very hard to reduce volume control.

This has been an argument since time began. ANYTHING that takes money or attention away from women is VERBOTEN!

I have a Chinese friend who was also a Minister in his congregation. One of his greatest "loves" was a 1971 Buick Riveria he had in his garage. The only problem it had was the Rochester "Quadrajet" four barrell carburetor needed to be rebuilt. He invited me over his house and I rebuilt his carburetor and got it running very well.

When I saw him again a few weeks afterwards, and he mentioned the problems he was having with his wife. It seems the old Riveria wasn't running in a few years and since he had his new "toy" in running condition he was devoting more time to it (not neglecting his family duties, work, and congregation). He was on the verge of going to a marriage counselor over it.

The bottom line: He sold it to keep the peace.

When I was over his house I was overwhelmed by the cultural differences between his family and what I was accustomed to (Good Old American Hospitality). The men DID NOT partake in the preparation of the meal. The female children assisted the wife. The men were served by the women and were cleaned up after by the women. Afterwards, the men retired to the living room and were served tea by the women and had discussions on politics, mechanical apparatus,etc, etc. The women were not allowed to partake in discussion. Only to serve tea and make themselves invisible.

I thought I found Paradise!

I offered to help clean up afterwards and was told (in a firm way) that that is womens work, men don't do those things.

In retrospect, who were the REAL chauvenists? Who wore the real pants in the family? When my friend drove his car he told me he did not get "lucky" that week, so to speak.

I guess it's all about compromise and finding someone who will tolerate "man toys", wherther it's radios, cars, guns, whathaveyou (all three is even better!).

A wise man once said:

If it floats, flies or f_ _ _ s, it's usually cheaper to rent it than buy it!

The whole ticket to success is the accumulation of brownie points.
You have enough brownie points without becoming P.W. and I don't
mean QRP the more toys you can play with.

Before I got married we agreed twice a year is Hostraders weekend!!!
I headed to hostraders the night we arrived home from honeymoon.
In '89 it was a couple weeks later than normal so thought I had it covered
planning the last week of May.

But Joe then you have to waste all that time shopping for the rental.
you might get something extra....

How true, like a radio with hidden problems, more than we want, but less than we need!

Hi Joe,

Ok, do keep us updated on the Transatlantic angle, sounds fun!

As far as stations, right now at the new QTH, I am limited to what can fit into the home office.

I have in storage or at the office a T-368, Johnson 500, Valiant, DX-100, and 32V.

I'd like to move the T-3 over first thing the WX breaks, so the T-3 and the R-390A will be the main station at the QTH.

I really like and treasure the Collins setup, the 32V belonged to my elmer W2UJR and the 75A was a restoration of mine a few years back. I'd like those to stay in the house or safe in the office.

Hope to catch u on this weekend, given the WX, looks like prime radio time!

73 Bruce W1UJR



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Bruce,
Warren K2ORS visited one day and the first thing he did was tune down to 22 KHz to check the VLF band. Check it out, cool stuff.   fc

Wonder if my 390A will do that, I don't think any of the riceboxes will.

What did you hear?

Something like this... (http://www.androsov.com/cartoons/cannibals/cannibal01.JPG)



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Warren operates on about 137 KHz part 5 band.
 There is all kinds of communication stuff below 500 KHz. You will need a RX that tunes down there or an up converter for your R390. You have the perfect location for it.

Actually my HRO 5TA1 has coilsets which will tune close to there, is it at exactly 22 Kc or just in that band? I'll have to play around with it this evening. I have heard the NAV beacons and such, something else?