Simple 10 meter loop antenna
antenna May 24th, 2009
Here’s a diagram for a simple 10m loop antenna. Although 10 meter band is not very good at this time of the year, the operating condition is predicted to be improving in the next couple of years.
Simple Antenna for 10 meter operation
A/B Value for 28.2 MHz
A = 73″
B = 146″
A/B Value for 28.5 MHz
A = 72″
B = 145 3/4″
A/B Value for 27.5555 MHz (freebander)
A = 73 1/2″
B = 150 3/4″
Data from MMANA-GAL software
The antenna can be build from Copper wire or aluminum tube.
Here’s the MMANA-GAL file for reference : 10meterloop_simple.maa
Amateur Radio: Malaysian APRS Seminar in Unimap (Perlis)
Announcement, General, Ham Radio March 2nd, 2009
A seminar on APRS will be held in Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) on 7 March 2009. Details of the talk as follows:
Name: Art Takahashi
Academic Qualification: Satellite Microwave System Engineer
Expert Field: Satellite communication engineer & Hamradio
Experiences: Hamradio licence holder about 40 years
Holder Radio Callsigns
PA0HMW,F0DKS,VK3PAT,VK3BFM,VK6MX,VK3EO,
P29EO,VK6MX,VK4GO,VK4GO/BD,JA1OGS
Working for NEC Japan Yokohama & Australia Papua New-Guinia
Professional Bodies Membership:
Rens & Rens , Stedehouwer NERG
The Netherland , Australia Japan
Title: A.P.R.S (Automatic Position Report System)
Synopsis:
Explain what is all about APRS, how it works and what do with it.
Main reason about my second visit is to Malaysia is to help radio amateurs in this country, to understand a other side of hobby. So they start building digital electronics project for the radio amateur hobby. (APRS)
Date: 7 march 2009
Time: 10:30 am ~ 1:30 pm the length from the seminar is depends about visitors interest.
Vanue: Lecture Hall, UniMAP Kuala Perlis.
Info Direction QRV: 9M2RMK 147.9800Mhz Shift -0.600 Tone 203.5
Info Direction on :
a) Wikimapia
b) Google Maps
Those interested to learn more about APRS technology are invited to join in the seminar. It’s free of charge!
Tags: amateur radio, aprs, ham, Ham Radio, hamradio, malaysia, radio, radio amatur, satellite, seminar, unimap
RAE 2008-2 Results : Congrats to new Malaysian Ham!
Current Issues, Ham Radio February 7th, 2009
Radio Amateur Examination (RAE) results is out! Congratulations to those who have passed the examination! Heck even piju passed the test!
You can view the results here : RAE 2008-2 results from MCMC website.
Important Forms to download :
- Letter Of Reference (to be signed by two 9M license holder)
- Declaration of Secrecy
- Application for Apparatus Assignment
- Callsign Application Form
For those who didn’t pass, dont despair.. there’s plenty of time to study for the next RAE!
Tags: amateur, amateur radio, exam, ham, hamradio, malaysia, mcmc, radio, radio amateur, rae
MCMC has updated Malaysian Amateur Radio callsign database
Ham Radio, Technology November 15th, 2008
MCMC (Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Comittee) has updated Malaysian Amateur Radio Apparatus Assignment and Callsign database, which can be viewed here – http://www.skmm.gov.my. The updated database include details of newly registered hams who’ve recently passed RAE 2008-1 examination in April.
Alternatively you could try the experimental AJAX web interface from ashamradio callsign project. Thanks to 9M2CIO for making the database available to use freely.
Tags: amateur radio, ashamradio, callsign, hamradio, mcmc
A very quiet September for 10 meter band
Ham Radio, Hobbies, Propagation September 30th, 2008
Woops, seems like the SSN (smoothed sunspot number) count for this month is equals to 0.
I only manage to make 6 contacts with DX station on 10 meter during September. Partly due to bad propagation, partly due to my busy schedule, which kinda limit my ham activities to Sundays and Saturdays.
I’ve been getting all sorts of questions about working 10 meter from fellow hams in my place. I advises them against it as the propagation right now isnt as great as couple months before
Plus, I’ve known quite few local hams that regret that they venture into 10 meter unprepared, as it requires a lot of patience and different skills to work with.
In another note, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to those who has passed the 2008 Morse Code test, more details in 9M2MGL website
Tags: 10 meter, 28MHz, amateur, amateur radio, hamradio, Propagation
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
Funny, General, Ham Radio July 21st, 2008
Don’t ask me :p
MCMC did assign me this callsign when I first licensed as an amateur radio operator, my first choice was 9W2HPZ.
For other “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” garments and shirts, please visit T-shirtstop.com
My Homebrew 10 Meter Moxon antenna in my backyard
antenna, Ham Radio July 4th, 2008
I took some time off to build my first HF antenna using the plan I’ve obtained few months ago. I chose moxon as my first 10 meter HF antenna as it is small and compact and it is directional, allowing me to focus it into a single direction for a pretty quiet QSO, without much interference.
The material I used in building this moxon are :
- Green ground (12 Gauge ?) wire, it has 7 copper wire inside it.
- PVC pipe (3/4″ diameter) as necessary to hold the wire in place, you can use other materials too, as long as it formed the basic dimension of moxon antenna
Antenna Plan and Results
I use the plan described in this post; 10 Meter Band Compact Directonal Antenna and started building it immediately. The result of the antenna can be seen here :
Performance
Although I build it only as a temporary antenna (thus its flimsy), it performed rather well when compared to other types of popular 10 meter band antenna in my place (Delta Loop, Inverted-V) as the antenna is directional and it does not requires the use of transformer balun.
I’ve managed to make contact with 12 stations in 6 days since it has been erected.
Some tips working on 10 meter band
- Use a good low loss cable such as RG-8 or Belden 9913
- Make sure you know where you point your antenna, the direction of your antenna is crucial if you ever to make contact with distant station.
- The propagation is pretty good during daytime between 3pm – 8pm by my observation, use that time window wisely.
- Use directional antenna like Moxon or Yagi as they allow you to focus your transmission to a certain direction and eliminate excessive interference on the band.
- Be patient
That’s it and good luck!
p/s:
I wouldn’t recommend PVC pipes if you are planning to erect a permanent antenna as they are flimsy. Use aluminium pipes or copper tubes as they are more durable and offers best performance.
Tags: 10 meter, amateur, amateur radio, antenna, hamradio, hf, moxon, yagi
10 Meter band ham radio calling frequency in Malaysia
Ham Radio, Hobbies, Technology June 23rd, 2008
Since 10 meter activities gained popularity lately in Malaysia, I decided to publish 10 meter calling frequency for the benefits of local hams in my region :
28.480 MHz USB
28.485 MHz USB
28.490 MHz USB
28.495 MHz USB
28.500 MHZ USB
Most local and DX activities concentrated on these frequencies with 28.490 MHz being the most popular for calling DX stations.
Tips for newbies hams on HF
Be sure to ask if the intended frequency is unoccupied by asking (“is this frequency in use ?”) at least three times. Then proceed to make a general call, “CQ CQ CQ this is 9W2QSO 9W2QSO 9W2QSO calling CQ CQ CQ, this is 9W2QSO calling any station and standing by” and listen for any call for few moments.
In Malaysia, the best time for 10 meter USB operation is around 4:20pm – 10pm, your milleage may vary though.
Good luck.
The Homebrew Slim Jim Antenna Gain
Ham Radio, Hobbies, Random Facts June 10th, 2008
I’ve been searching for information regarding the radiation angle and the gain of slim jim antenna, but found none of it. So I decided to build the model of the antenna inside the ever useful MMANA-GAL software to get the information I needed myself.
From what I can surmise, the slim jim has a slightly lower radiation angle than vertical dipole antenna and is easier to mount, thus it is suitable to use for point-to-point communication VHF-UHF operation. It has a gain of about 2.8dBi-3.2dBi in free space and 4.8-5.8dBi when mounted at about 30feet from the ground. Here’s the result of MMANA-GAL :
Slim Jim mounted 30 feet above ground
Slim Jim in free space
Tags: Add new tag, amateur radio, antenna, Ham Radio, hamradio, homebrew, slim jim, slimjim
CWIRc : Send Morse Code in IRC – tools for Amateur Radio Operator
Computers, Ham Radio, Internet, Technology May 28th, 2008
Eager to practice your CW skills but you have nobody to practice with? In some countries like Malaysia, CW knowledge and proficiency is still required to operated HF portion (except 10 meter) of the Amateur Radio band.
Having said that, I’d like to present CWirc, an XChat irc client plugin which enables you to send and receive morse code through IRC. Developed by a fellow ham F8EJF, CWIrc has a lot of features which really enhance your CW experience on the internet, including the option of hooking up a real CW keyer using serial port interface.
CWIrc enables you to exchange morse code with fellow irc users on the internet, provided that the other users also knows morse code and has installed CWIrc. Though this might sound a little bit of a stretch when thinking the odds of meeting people with both requirements, it is actually not so in reality. You can find those kind of people exactly in #cwirc on irc.freenode.net server who are eager to chat with you in CW.
Screenshot
Requirements
Both XChat and CWIrc are included in Ubuntu (as well as Debian) software repository, so you don’t need to compile or download separate package from their respective websites.
Tags: amateur radio, Computers, cwirc, hamradio, irc, linux, morse, plugin, qso, ubuntu
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