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Tak-Tenna Compact and Space Saving HF Antenna Review

mypapit — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:14:17 +0000

Tak-Tenna is a type of compact antenna which is suitable for those who has space constraints on erecting their HF antenna. It is small enough that a 40 meter Tak-Tenna is just about the size of a 4-element Yagi 2 meter antenna. Here’s photographs of 40-meter Tak-Tenna in action. Compare that to the typical 40-meter dipole or Inverted-V configuration ! Thus it has the advantage of space-saving and unobtrusive setup when compared to other design of HF-antenna.

Tak-Tenna is available in 3 models – 40, 20, and 10 meters, with the 40 meter model can be use on 40, 30, 20, 15, and 10 meters with a tuner.

Refer to this article: “The TAK-Tenna™ Review – A Limited Space HF Antenna Review” for further review on Tak-Tenna performance and advantages.

Tak-Tenna can be ordered from the official Tak-Tenna website

My Homebrew 10 Meter Moxon antenna in my backyard

mypapit — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:04:10 +0000

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.

10 Meter band ham radio calling frequency in Malaysia

mypapit — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:04:17 +0000

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.

Moxon Antenna Plan for 27MHz CB and Freeband Operation

mypapit — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:16:57 +0000

Here’s another 11 meter Moxon Antenna plan suitable for 27MHz CB, Freeband and lower 28MHz Amateur Radio operation band.

Dimensions
A- 392.09 cm (154 3/8 inch)
B- 58.62 cm (23 1/16 inch)
C- 11.25 cm (4 7/16 inch)
D- 73.4 cm (28 7/8 inch)
E- 143.27 cm (56 7/16)

Gain, Radiation Pattern (mounted at approx 30feet)

Gain : Approx 10-11dBi (30 feet above the ground)
Freq range : 27.300 MHz – 28.300 MHz

The main advantage of Moxon rectangle antenna are :

Compact and Small
Has considerable gain
It can eliminate noise on HF band
Easy to construct
Suitable for HF operation (mid-low radiation angle)

Refer here for 10 meter Moxon Antenna Plan for Amateur Radio operation (28.2MHz-28.8MHz) : 10 Meter Band Compact directional antenna, Moxon