Since the bands are starting to show some life and things have started to wind down for the winter I decided it was time to get back on the air. The only HF antenna I had up before today was an inverted L that is 30 feet high and 75 feet long and worked half decent despite having no radials. Since the WX today was fairly cold,about 10 degrees F, and I had to traipse around in a fresh layer of snow I knew the antenna would work good. Antennas put up in the winter or any adverse conditions always do. Perhaps we just think that because we appreciate when the job is finished more. 
Anyway, I constructed the basic doublet cut for a half wavelength on 80m from a roll of #12 THNN wire, fed it with 450 ohm ladder line and installed it on the tower in a basic inverted VEE fashion with the apex at about 38 feet,not great but it's all I have right now. I then wound a 4:1 current balun on an air core form from some more #12 THNN wire and connected it between the balanced feeder and about 10 feet of coax cable that goes from the shack down to the basement. I could get the balanced feeders into the basement with ease but it is a bear trying to get it up inside the outside wall so that part can wait until spring.I fired the rig up and scanned through 80m and one of the first signals I heard was 7J4AAJ. He was about 5 and 7 on the TS-820S. I was impressed and then I thought "Hmmmmm......7J4AAL? That call is familiar." A quick lookup of his callsign revealed why he was the only Asian station I was hearing on 80m at the time. Apparently although he lost what was the world's largest 80 amateur antenna in the world back in October,he still has a potent signal on the band. I would have LOVED to work him but the QRM from the west coast was too much for me to punch through.I plan to be on late tonight around the DX window 3780-3800 and see what this thing will do.
Happy New Year's one and all.
7J4AAL's Full-Size, 5-Element, 80-Meter, Rotary Beam Antenna
Anyway, I constructed the basic doublet cut for a half wavelength on 80m from a roll of #12 THNN wire, fed it with 450 ohm ladder line and installed it on the tower in a basic inverted VEE fashion with the apex at about 38 feet,not great but it's all I have right now. I then wound a 4:1 current balun on an air core form from some more #12 THNN wire and connected it between the balanced feeder and about 10 feet of coax cable that goes from the shack down to the basement. I could get the balanced feeders into the basement with ease but it is a bear trying to get it up inside the outside wall so that part can wait until spring.I fired the rig up and scanned through 80m and one of the first signals I heard was 7J4AAJ. He was about 5 and 7 on the TS-820S. I was impressed and then I thought "Hmmmmm......7J4AAL? That call is familiar." A quick lookup of his callsign revealed why he was the only Asian station I was hearing on 80m at the time. Apparently although he lost what was the world's largest 80 amateur antenna in the world back in October,he still has a potent signal on the band. I would have LOVED to work him but the QRM from the west coast was too much for me to punch through.I plan to be on late tonight around the DX window 3780-3800 and see what this thing will do. Happy New Year's one and all.
7J4AAL's Full-Size, 5-Element, 80-Meter, Rotary Beam Antenna
