AmateurLogic.TV Episode 103 is now available for download.

Tommy repairs his mobile antenna. Emile makes a NOAA Heads Up Alert. Mike builds the Canadian Balun. Peter’s Balloon fails and he repurposes an old laptop screen. Plus all the usual stuff.

1:16:38

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George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at [email protected].

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Chris Howard M0TCH, Martin Rothwell M0SGL, Dan Romanchik KB6NU and  Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episode’s feature is Portable Multi-Band Dipole.

• Beginners Guides to Satellite Operating
• Awarded Teen Reaches the World via Ham Radio
• Radio Hams Protest Antenna Restrictions
• International Marconi Day - 22nd April 2017
• 40m Enigma Message decrypted at Bletchley Park
• Draft RSGB Papers for IARU Region 1 Conference
• Ham Radio Horizons Magazine
• Australia's First Ham Radio Satellite

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Chris Howard M0TCH, Martin Rothwell M0SGL, Dan Romanchik KB6NU and  Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episode’s feature is Portable Multi-Band Dipole.

• Beginners Guides to Satellite Operating
• Awarded Teen Reaches the World via Ham Radio
• Radio Hams Protest Antenna Restrictions
• International Marconi Day - 22nd April 2017
• 40m Enigma Message decrypted at Bletchley Park
• Draft RSGB Papers for IARU Region 1 Conference
• Ham Radio Horizons Magazine
• Australia's First Ham Radio Satellite

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

This past week, comments regarding an interesting new low-noise directionally-switched receive antenna popped-up on both the Topband reflector and the IRCA (BCB DXers) reflector.

The new JK BevFlex-4 is reported to work very well without requiring a lot of real estate for deployment. The antenna was designed by Geoff Mendenhall, W8GNM, and Ned Mountain, WC4X.

There are several things that make this package a little different. The antenna can be configured in four basic forms: CLASSIC BEVERAGE, BEVERAGE ON GROUND (BOG) / BEVERAGE IN SOD (BIS), INVERTED EWE, or as a FLAG. What is quite different however is its flexible feedpoint allowing the antenna to be fed at any point along its length when used in the BOG or BEVERAGE configuration. The antenna is completely passive and requires no preamplification although, in some configurations, it is suggested for use above 7MHz.

Full details can be found at the JK Antennas website, as well as the manual and a FAQ page.

The FAQ sheet indicates that it will perform from LW through to 10m but the most dramatic improvement in reception from users has been noted on the lower bands. It sounds like it might make an interesting antenna for NDB DXing as well.

In the BOG form, the antenna can lay right on the ground or be buried (BIS) just below the surface using RG-6 for the actual antenna element. Other configurations allow much smaller, stealth-sized wire to be employed.

An interesting YouTube video of the antenna in action as well as an in-depth description may be viewed here:


Here is one comment from an east coast topbander:

I also bought one this year....deployed it as an EWE, as that’s all the room
I have, small lot in a subdivision.....in order to work them you need to
hear them, and once I put that up, I could hear !!! first put up as EU/VK-ZL
and worked several in the DX contest, but when the african dxpedetions were on, moved it to due east/west., and worked all of them, S01, etc.....front to back is remarkable on 160, it works ok on 80, (mine was 10ft high and 38 ft long) but really rocks on 160 !!!!, and really cuts down the line noise/static I normally hear on my transmit Inv L.

Perhaps this may be your answer for a small effective receive antenna for LW and above but even if not, their website description makes for interesting reading.

Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

This past week, comments regarding an interesting new low-noise directionally-switched receive antenna popped-up on both the Topband reflector and the IRCA (BCB DXers) reflector.

The new JK BevFlex-4 is reported to work very well without requiring a lot of real estate for deployment. The antenna was designed by Geoff Mendenhall, W8GNM, and Ned Mountain, WC4X.

There are several things that make this package a little different. The antenna can be configured in four basic forms: CLASSIC BEVERAGE, BEVERAGE ON GROUND (BOG) / BEVERAGE IN SOD (BIS), INVERTED EWE, or as a FLAG. What is quite different however is its flexible feedpoint allowing the antenna to be fed at any point along its length when used in the BOG or BEVERAGE configuration. The antenna is completely passive and requires no preamplification although, in some configurations, it is suggested for use above 7MHz.

Full details can be found at the JK Antennas website, as well as the manual and a FAQ page.

The FAQ sheet indicates that it will perform from LW through to 10m but the most dramatic improvement in reception from users has been noted on the lower bands. It sounds like it might make an interesting antenna for NDB DXing as well.

In the BOG form, the antenna can lay right on the ground or be buried (BIS) just below the surface using RG-6 for the actual antenna element. Other configurations allow much smaller, stealth-sized wire to be employed.

An interesting YouTube video of the antenna in action as well as an in-depth description may be viewed here:


Here is one comment from an east coast topbander:

I also bought one this year....deployed it as an EWE, as that’s all the room
I have, small lot in a subdivision.....in order to work them you need to
hear them, and once I put that up, I could hear !!! first put up as EU/VK-ZL
and worked several in the DX contest, but when the african dxpedetions were on, moved it to due east/west., and worked all of them, S01, etc.....front to back is remarkable on 160, it works ok on 80, (mine was 10ft high and 38 ft long) but really rocks on 160 !!!!, and really cuts down the line noise/static I normally hear on my transmit Inv L.

Perhaps this may be your answer for a small effective receive antenna for LW and above but even if not, their website description makes for interesting reading.

Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by Cale Mooth K4HCK. Sign up free to receive ham radio's most relevant news, projects, technology and events by e-mail each week at http://www.hamweekly.com.

So I’m just a few weeks into learning my new Flex 6500. I had sold my old Bencher iambic paddle a few years back when I got the KX3 and its attached keyer. When the Flex arrived, I quickly realized I was missing a paddle except for an old straight key that WA9EIC had given me. My struggles with the straight key are a story for another day. So off to my favorite online swapmeet places…QRZ and QTH.com. I found an ARRL 100 year anniversary Vibroplex! This one only had the serial number engraved and not a callsign, so it was perfect purchase, and a great match with the 6500.

I had played on 40M CW on and off. With the KX3, I’m ashamed to say that I became dependent on the CW decoder. Part of it was my newness to CW, but part of it was that it was so darn easy to use…and pretty darn accurate. With the Flex, there isn’t a built-in decoder. You could use any number of digital programs or a skimmer if you wanted. For now, I’ve sworn those off so I’ve been back to doing CW decoding the old way…with my head.  With the Flex, 40M CW is joy. You get on, look around, and you can SEE people calling CQ just by watching the regular pattern of their signals.

It was a quiet night at the Brown household, and I was up in the shacking playing with the Vibroplex and the 6500. Up around 7.105 was an interesting signal. It wasn’t the purest CQ I’d ever heard, but a nice fist and an interesting chirp. I answered and had a short QSO. I remember it well as the transmitter the ham was using drifted after our second round. The thing went outside my filter….I figured it was QSB, but when I looked up at the panadapter I found him about 500kHz south of where we started! Being new to the Flex, it took me a few seconds to find the RIT. I got him tuned back in and found him on top of another QSO.  I kinda panicked and figured the safest thing to do was tell him he drifted a bit and then sign off  and move to another. No big deal. No harm, no foul!

Well today I get a phone call from my buddy Dennis, KE9UA. Dennis asked if I knew I was on YouTube. What??? Yep, seems that N6TLU had done a video on operating a Lysco 600, and little ole KG9DW was on the other side of his QSO! Well, now I’m famous. Or should I say infamous….

Terry is truly an interesting character, both on the air and in his videos. Here it is, my YouTube CW debut, in a supporting role in “Hammered Ham!”

Michael Brown, KG9DW, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Illinois, USA. Contact him at [email protected].