Antenna - Blog Posts
My last two atlas moths have emerged from their cocoons. They are beautiful and absolutely fascinating.
Can you see the snake head markings on the tip of each forewing? They are there to deter potential predators, which I think is pretty neat.
They are absolutely gorgeous, and I am so glad that they have all hatched safely. Unfortunately, I think these two are both female so it looks like I won't be getting any fertile eggs.
One damaged it's hind wing a little when it flew into one of my orchids. It is the only one that has shown any interest in flying and has been having short (approximately 2 min) flights around my room every evening. Finding a new place to lay eggs each time.
Once I got the radial elements reattached I weaved some electrical tape around them and the main element for added stability before wrapping the main element with some coax-seal. I remounted the antenna back onto the mast and called for a radio check. Not getting a reply, I keyed up a couple of repeaters, so at least I know I'm putting out a signal.
I crimped thr coupler over the main element and the contact of the SO-239 connector before using some heat shrink for a bit of added structural support. I'm not like all the other high class and fanciful hams, so I used my daughter's hair dryer on high heat to shrink the heat shrink. It worked like a charm!
Not wanting to try to fool with the solder again, i decided to go a different route and instead of soldering the main, copper element onto it, I opted to use an electronics coupler, minus the plastic sleeve.
The main element on my 1/4 wave, vertical antenna broke off, regardless of how secure I had made it with electrical tape and coax-seal, the solder just wasn't wanting to hold.
I'm not a man of great means, so when I look at antennas, like my purchase of the Moonraker GPA-80, I need it to be versatile so I can take it to the field if needed and collapse it relatively fast if needed. I've been eyeballing alot of these telescopic masts but most won't work with the Moonraker, but I still have the field expedient 1/4 wave 40m I made that I could run up a crappie rod which is relatively cheap. If anyone wants to take a look at the source for the one in the picture, the link is below.
I bought this Yaesu FT-897 as a gift to myself for passing the General Class exam last month. I was going to buy an antenna but decided to make one myself to learn more about them, so I made a field expedient, 1/4 wave end-fed. I had gooten into amateur radio with my dad who became a silent key nearly three years ago. After hearing the radio crackle to life with the sounds of a 40 meter net I forgot about how I wouldn't be able to use it on all amateur bands (because it's a Japanese model), and I wanted to run and tell my dad all about it. I wanted to throw my call out but I figured I'd better just listen for now. I was as excited as a boy on Christmas.
