Article submitted by K3DZM While pondering a portable antenna the other night, I decided I wanted to build such a beast with parts that were staring me in the face!  It was partly an antenna in theory with material creativity mixed in.  The antenna was not designed to be a permanent outside antenna, since the materials in … Continue reading Cheap Portable Multi-band Antenna by K3DZM

RST REPORTS AND HOW TO GIVE THEM This guide is for HF.  For giving signal reports on a repeater see: Giving Signal Reports when going thru a Repeater What Does RST mean? How do I give a proper RST report? The acronym RST stands for: Readability – Signal Strength – Tone If you’re operating phone or voice, you’ll … Continue reading RST Reports and How To Give Them

It is important, if you're using a dipole antenna fed with open wire line feeders, to try and keep the antenna balanced. The first rule is to make sure both sides of the antenna are the same physical length. Sometimes, even when doing that, the antenna will not be balanced due to the asymmetrical issue. … Continue reading Why Open Wire Fed Dipoles Need To Be Balanced

 Tech Tip #1 Giving signal reports when going through a repeater  by W3GMS on Sun 16 Feb 2020 - 13:22 Keep in mind, when your working a station on the repeater and he is changing his output power, giving an "S" meter report really does nothing. Your "S" meter is listening to the repeater and due to … Continue reading Giving Signal Reports when going thru a Repeater

Does it matter how long my coax line is? Ideal world: No. Real world: Very possibly. Unless you have a near-perfect 1:1 SWR at the antenna or unless you're intentionally making a feedline-based matching system, you do not want your feedline to be a quarter wavelength long at your operating frequency or any ODD multiple … Continue reading Does it matter how long my coax line is?

Here is proof of the increased activity on 985! Graph is showing KWh per month. Let's make 2020 the most Joe has ever paid for electric! 146 KWh

Found this on Larsen's updated website. Diagram showing different antenna placements on a mobile and the corresponding losses. https://pulselarsenantennas.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Amateur_Radio_PulseLarsen.pdf 73 de K3DBI

Article by permission from K4QKY Don Pendergrass

Compromise HF Antennas There have been many new Hams using the 985 repeater. It is good to see all the new interest in Amateur Radio and the activity on 985. New Hams have a lot to learn and many aspects of the hobby seem strange and mysterious. Antennas are always an area of much interest … Continue reading Compromise HF Antennas

Workbenches of 985 This is the place to see some of the 985 user's workbenches.  If you have a workbench pic, send to KC3CIB