What use is an F-call?

A recurring theme in my conversations with other amateurs is the term Antenna, closely followed by "more power". At some point in the not too distant future I'm going to set-up two identical radios and do some power tests with the help of another amateur. In the mean time, I cannot do anything else but re-state, "It's not the power but what you do with it that matters." said in another way, "It's not what you put in to the antenna that matters, it's what comes out of the antenna that counts."

So, as I said, a recurring theme, Antennas.

My antenna works for me in my context, that is, in the way that I use my radio, my antenna works for me. It may well work for you too. Ironically, the internet is full of people who have built their own antenna and have gone to the trouble of describing what they built, the things they learnt and the traps they fell into. In my search for a patch-lead for my mobile wi-fi hotspot I came across a page from VK4ION who's page describes creating a NextG yagi for his Internet connection. It's typical of pages on the 'net, $10 worth of parts and you have a yagi that out-performs something you spend $200 bucks on from the "professionals". VK4ION used a design based on one from VK7JJ, and he in turn based his on a design from now Silent Key, W4RNL.

My point is this: "You can find an antenna design to suit your needs anywhere you care to look."

My very first antenna was a piece of wire that I stuck in the air, connected to an antenna tuner. I based my design on nothing more than the notion that of all the designs to choose from, this was the simplest to make. It turns out that I was wrong, there are even simpler designs to be had. My second design was two bits of wire soldered onto a BNC connector strung in the air with a piece of coax running back to my radio, no antenna tuner in sight.

Right now I'm pretty happy with my HF vertical. I'm in the process of making some di-poles of varying length that I intend to take with me in my go-kit, each tucked away in a 35mm film roll cannister - quick to hand, simple to use, easy to fix and cheap. All great characteristics of a home-brew antenna.

While my VHF and UHF antenna is a manufactured contraption that currently suits me well, I have no doubt that in my munificent spare time, that too will be subjected to experimentation. I've got a huge collection of articles on my to-read pile and I suspect that once I've actually read them, the next questions will begin to occur. Sounds like fun to me, making something out of nothing.

I'm Onno, VK6FLAB