If you Google discone antenna dimensions, you'll find several useful sources including an online calculator.
73,
Ray W2RS
I happened to note a link to your website in the Elecraft reflector, with one OM making a comment about the Collins Discone Antenna at the old missile silo range. That got my attention for sure, since during 1964 to 1967, I was stationed in Oregon at the mountain ridge outfit of the 761st RADRON, where I worked some distance away from the "main base" at a GATR site. Amid all the other gear, we had a Collins KWT-6 rig that covered all bands, and most of us learned "how to tune the rig for the intended frequency", with a monster of a tuner! There were times when the SWR just flat didn't go down, so one of the older techs took me to the upper level of the GATR site, where a Collins Discone Antenna was installed, to show me how to clean the remote tuner.
I learned some basics of remote tuners at that time, but the concept of discone antennas didn't get much attention. Plainly stated, the techs were almost limited to the gear at hand, and a "need to know" basis. That particular antenna worked fine, especially at the 1800' height above the Pacific altitude of the GATR site, but we didn't use it for much of anything. My duties were focused in on the aircraft ground radio gear, to keep the pilots talking to each other and to the ground radar operators, "scope dopes", in the lingo of those days.
After I was discharged, I came back home to try wrestling with dipole antennas for years, a big job considering the salt air and all other factors which turns good gear into junk in a hurry. Only lately, I bought a new(er) house well "inland", with over an acre of land to play on, and the discone antenna came back to mind.
The big problem is that I have no idea of what the dimensions of the 40 to 10 meter version are or were, so it might be a task to set one up. I had the pleasure of watching a "graduate electrical engineer" set one up in an inland city, just for one Field Day exercise, and Mike was very enthusiastic about it. Never did get any idea of his design dimensions.
Thus, if anyone has any idea of what to look for on the Internet or any reference to building one from scratch, I'll appreciate any suggestions. The antennas might not have any "gain", per se, but they sure look special, and I'd like to play with one!
Gad, but the memories of those four Air Force years are vivid again, what with hundreds of hours in learning how to keep the "225 to 399.9 Mc" rigs going. (Yep, we were still using cps in those days, and I still twist my tongue with "Hz"!)
Best from Mustang Island, hope to hear someone, "soon as I can get an antenna farm up, with 50' being a bit much for a retired old back".
73's
Gil WA5YKK
Hi all,
W2RCA/W2RS worked 43 stations, of which 33 were worked on HF/MF CW and 10 on local 2-meter FM here in Green Valley. Most of the CW QSOs were on 20 meters, but seven were on 40, one on 80, and two each on 30 and 160.
I'm sure I could have worked more had I opted for contest-style operation, but I wanted to have real QSOs with as many as possible, telling them about the club, the anniversary event, etc.
The two 160-meter QSOs were noteworthy in that both were DX: Kaz, JA8ISU, in Japan and TX3A, a DXpedition to the Chesterfield Islands off French Polynesia. In view of the club's history with 1BCG, etc., I wanted to see W2RCA work some DX on Top Band again.
Once again, if you worked any of the W2RCA operations and would like a special 100th anniversary QSL card, QSL to K2RJ (address on qrz.com). For more info on the Radio Club of America click on the link.
Thanks to everyone for making it possible.
73,
Ray W2RS
Hi,
Me again. Further to my last comment about W2RCA/W2RS, I checked with the people in charge of the event and, yes, contacts made via FM repeater will qualify for the special 100th anniversary QSL card. So, look for W2RCA/W2RS on the 145.29 repeater this coming weekend, in addition to 40 and 20 meter CW.
73,
Ray W2RS
Hi all,
On a completely different subject, I want to call attention to a special event taking place this coming weekend. For many years now, I've belonged to the Radio Club of America, the world's oldest radio club (incorporated Jan. 2, 1909). RCA is having its 100th annual meeting this weekend in Washington, DC.
Part of the festivities will be a special event station, W2RCA, which will be operated remotely (just like GVARC's club station) by members from around the country. Look for it, mostly on 20 SSB. It is located at the meeting site.
In addition to W2RCA, several RCA members in the western U.S. have signed up to operate their own stations as W2RCA/their own call. These include WB6NOA (Gordo), AH6S (Tiff), and yours truly. Gordo and Tiff will be mostly on SSB, while W2RCA/W2RS will be on CW. Look for me on or near 7040 and 14040. If you work any W2RCA station, you can get a special QSL card via QSL manager Ron, K2RJ.
For more info about RCA, including membership details, visit www.radioclubofamerica.org.
73,
Ray W2RS
Do you know any teacher who may have any interest in attending a 4 day Teachers Institute here at Pueblo June 25 – 28? If you do know of anyone please pass this message along.
If they attend the Teachers Institute they will receive equipment for their classroom that could include:
If anyone is interested, please ask them to visit this link for more information.
Or anyone can call me at (520) 409-3572 for additional information.
There will be a newspaper article in this Friday’s Arizona Daily Star about the Teachers Institute
Best regards,
Miguel Enriquez
KD7RPP
Pueblo Magnet High School
Margaret and I have leased a house about 10 miles outside Fredericksburg, TX, to serve as a temporary base while we look around for ranch property and wait (and wait and wait) for her Canoa Ranch place to sell. We're keeping the Acres house for the foreseeable future, and plan to shuttle back and forth between Fredericksburg and GV.
Fredericksburg is about 70 miles northwest of San Antonio and 80 miles west of Austin. Our temporary home there sits on 8 wooded acres, but it's rented so no towers. I have permission to string wire antennas, so I should be on the air from there before too long, with the Argonaut V and 100-watt THP amplifier. The heavy artillery will stay in GV.
There is a local repeater, but it has no IRLP so I'll resort to Echolink from time to time.
The best to one and all, and we're looking forward to seeing you when we're in GV.
73,
Ray W2RS
Hello Gene, long time no see!! I really hope you are doing excellent in that peaceful Green Valley.
The purpose of this e-mail is to inform you that we have RED2:XE2SNG-1 packet node on 145.010 Mhz (simplex) up and running in the town of Caborca,Sonora about 80 miles south of Lukeville,AZ. I was there this past weekend with a bunch of XE2’s and Uriel of course XE2VAS/N2IX who belongs to your club.
The node has an outstanding coverage of RockyPoint (Puerto Peñasco) and it can hit the packet gateway at Mount Lemmon (LMN:AK7Z-1) from LMN you can jump to TUCIP:KV4OA which is also connected to the internet so basically what I’m saying is that for any HAM operator in the Rocky Point area it is possible to have some internet services via packet such as e-mail, chat (convers), bulletin areas, DX clusters and connectivity to similar systems all around the world.
All you need is a 2m rig, a packet TNC and a laptop and sit there by the edge of the ocean and enjoy packet. Please pass this info amount your club members and AZ hams so they can be aware that this service is available for anyone visiting that area.
In two weeks we will have RED1:XE2VAS-1 ready to go up to the mountain in Nogales for the coverage of that area as well.
73 de XE2BSS/N2IX Alex
Catch up on our own Mike Bass's, WA9TKK, operation on Mt. Wrightson during the June VHF contest.
I recently came across a fun activity that everyone can take part in. You don't even need a radio, just your own two feet.
By now, most everyone in the club knows what DXCC is: an awards program, sponsored by ARRL, for confirming on-air contacts with 100 or more of the 337 geographic "entities" on the DXCC list. That's why it's called the DX Century Club.
Now, a few hams in the UK-based Chiltern DX Club have taken the DXCC idea a step farther (literally) by creating the DXFC, where the F stands for "Feet." In the DX Feet Club, you get credit for a DXCC entity not by working it on the air, but by going there and setting foot in it. If you happen to have operated amateur radio from there as well, you can also claim credit on DXFC's "QRV list."
It's entirely informal, with no QSLs, passport stamps, or memberships required. To join in the fun, go to http://www.dxfc.org, set up a free user account, and check off your entities visited and QRV. Then, check the list to see where you and your friends stand.
FYI, the current DXFC leaders are Pete Hoover, W6ZH, with 176 entities visited, and Vince Thompson, K5VT, with 69 QRV.
Happy trails,
Ray W2RS
Notice
One of our club members has obtained a quantity of new RG8 and RG8X (mini RG8).
If you are in need of coax cable, contact Lloyd, N7GV at 648-2834.
In late June the Committee to select a Club Logo selected the Logo you now see on all pages of this site.
We are working on selecting some one to make stickers, embroidery Call Signs and Logo's on hats, t-shirts, light jackets, etc.
If you have some comments please call me or Bob AD7FQ.
73s Gene WØKAD
Do you have a Suggestion for the Radio Club?
Have an Idea? Pass it on to the GVARC President.
Our very own N7GV was awarded the Ham of the year Award. Comments received by the webmaster for Lloyd are saved for ever!
Hello gentlemen, I hope all of you are doing very well.
A few days ago I had to make a business trip to El Paso, TX. My traveling path was all long highways 8 and 10 starting at Calexico, CA. A 10 hours trip more or less.
I have an IC-2720 VHF/UHF radio in my truck so of course during my trip I had the intention to use it to get into some repeaters and talk to some "gud' ol' buddies” in the Tucson/Nogales area.
I was told that there is a VHF repeater with excellent coverage of the region, the 146.880 (-) repeater, so I wanted to give it a try and talk a little bit with some of the “South of the border friends” among then N2IX / XE2VAS Uriel, XE2SRR Raul in Nogales Sonora and KE7FDO Raul in Tucson.
Once I was in the coverage area of the repeater while traveling east, I monitored the frequency and made sure that it was clear, in fact I waited for quite some time after I was able to "kerchunk it" to make sure I was not going to interrupt any possible ongoing conversation.
The repeater was absolutely clear so I decided to give it a try and call XE2SRR using the International Phonetics Code to ID both the station I was calling (Raul in Nogales) and myself (N2IX mobile)
Our conversation was held in Spanish, but we ID ourselves in English to make sure anyone listening could get our calls correctly. It wasn't to long in the conversation when some lady stepped on top of my transmission and someone was holding the PTT without talking, clearly jamming my conversation.
I waited for a reasonable period of time to make sure the frequency was absolutely clear and called XE2SRR again, once again someone just holding the PTT right in the middle of our conversation, a third time someone asked "otra ves??" with clear American accent, I gave my call sign clearly and nothing back.
It seemed to me that someone was not happy with the fact that we were talking in Spanish on the repeater even though we were ID'ing clearly in English.
To me this is a very sad situation, I cannot feel mad, just sad to see that such behavior still present on this days, if I'm not mistaking any amateur radio operator authorized to operate in the US by the FCC can talk in whatever language as long as the ID is in clear English.
I sadly see that the language barrier is a ridiculous excuse to consider our south of the border Amateur fellows as "unwanted" even though the rules are followed, for many years I have fought this stupid situation of the HUGE barrier between W's and XE's.
I belong the a Radio Club in North West Sonora "North West Digital Network Civil Association" and we are building a packet and voice repeater infrastructure that covers most of the north part of the states of Sonora and Baja California, this includes of course places such as Puerto Penasco and San Felipe heavily visited by Americans and quite a few of them Ham operators.
We have met some US amateur operators which have been using our systems and even though the language barrier, there has been established a nice friendship with them, most of them do not speak spanish and most of our radio club members or repeater users in Mexico do not speak a lot of english, but because of the goodwill of them the XE's are learning english and the W's are learning and speaking a little spanish, short but nice conversation have taken place on our systems between XE's and W's and no one has bother them, even conversations in english between americans have not been interrupted.
We encourage US Amateur operators to use our systems, the only requirement by law is to ID the station sing the International Phonetics Code and numbers in Spanish.
Some us of have talked for some years about this "barrier" between US and Mexican Hams, I have not seen any project done by both sides to motivate the cooperation and interlink of systems on both sides of the border.
Our radio club has a project that consists of three voice repeaters, three packet nodes (X1J4) and a JNOS Packet-Internet Gateway.
So far we are about to complete the Nogales part of the project (147.180+ on voice and 145.010 RED1 on packet) hopefully this part of the project will be completed by the end of November or so.
Any of our repeaters are open to any amateur operator that while in Mexican territory follows the rules that the Federal Authority (COFETEL) dictates, no obligation at all to have a conversation in spanish, no need to pay any type of fee for the use of the repeater in fact by law any type of fee is illegal.
Behaviors like the one those operators had on the 146.880 repeater near Tucson definitely go against the Universal Objectives of Amateur Radio of promoting friendship between hams from different countries and cultures.
It looks to me that some people on the north side of the border think that everything south of it is bad, that's an absolute mistake, like anywhere else including the US, there is good people and bad people.
We are not criminals, we are not drug dealers, the fact that we live in a sub developed country does not mean that we are ignorants or savages, we are just a group of Amateur radio Operators south of the "fence" trying to make good relations with our northern neighbors and strictly respecting the FCC rules while in US territory.
I understand that the fact that some "racist" jamming a spanish conversation on a US repeater does not mean that the owner/trustee has to be blamed for that action, I cannot say that because I would be committing a mistake, specially when the "jammer" does not ID him/her self, but at least trustees or radio clubs should somehow discourage such behaviors on their repeaters, it does not promote friendship at all between Hams of different languages or cultures.
I hope to see some day a nice repeater link project done between groups on both sides of the fence probing that the "language barrier" is not a definite unbreakable wall.
73 de XE2BSS / N2IX Alex
Red Digital del Noroeste A.C. (Northwest Digital Network Civil Association)
Mexicali, B.C. Mexico
I believe GVARC received this email due to some extensive research by Alex (Alejandro), much probably on the ARRL site.
In my opinion his position is well taken. Unfortunately, the folks in the US have been rallied and, to many, anything which is not of their language and accent is something "to be reckoned with"! Such a shame.
Since GVARC does support two repeaters and is on the edge of the US southern border, it would not be inappropriate for the Board to take a position (although some members may disagree) which talks about what an open repeater means in an international world. If this were to be so, we might want to use a page on the website to reflect this position on our web page. Having said that, I do not believe that a statement on a web page will have any influence on anybody who jams a repeater or transmission for any reason.
Jon, AD7GS
I found it hard to believe that US Ham Radio operators could have acted the way some of the users of the 146.88 Repeater reportedly did on that October day.
Not being able to understand the conversation in Spanish, is not so much the speaker's concern but far more the shortcomings of the people who would interfere with a QSO they could not understand.
Lets pass this around the Southern AZ Ham community and hopefully we can all be better supporters of "The Amateur Radio Universal Objectives"
Gene WØKAD
I'm very sorry to hear that this happened to a fine amateur operator from the south. I wintered in Southern Mexico for about ten years and I love the country and love the Mexican people. Over the years I have conversed for hours with Mexican stations in Spanish and nobody ever bothered us. I was always careful to identify at least every ten minutes in English and Spanish and never had any trouble. That was always on HF, though, and I do feel there is a different mentality on VHF sometimes. Once again I'd like to apologize for the rudeness of our American hams.
In late June the Committee to select a Club Logo selected the Logo you now see on all pages of this site.
We are working on selecting some one to make stickers, embroidery Call Signs and Logo's on hats, t-shirts, light jackets, etc.
If you have some comments please call me or Bob AD7FQ.
73s Gene WØKAD
Are you new to Ham Radio and found yourself with "Mike Fright" saying to yourself, what should I say? or how should I say it, or even not getting on at all because you think "I may say it wrong"
This Article has lots of good tips on operating skills which even some of the old hands could use to brush up on there operating skills.
Thanks to Ray W2RS for this handy tip.
I would like to thank all those folks that helped make the Spring Picnic a Great Time.
A special Thanks to Bill N9CHN and Sharon KA9GPY For doing all the Hard work. Purchasing and precooking the Ribs.Arriving early to set up the Grill and then BBQing then while the rest of us enjoyed eating.
Thanks to Bill AAØTF & Arlene for getting to the site 2hrs before to Set up the tables that made sure we could use it.There is a first come first served Policy for use of the picnic site. Within the first hr. after his Arrival there where at least two other groups that would have liked to use the area.
Thanks to Bob & Linda AD7FQ/FP For setting a Geo Cache and Bill AAØTF for instructing on Geocaching
Thanks to Evan KA7LUE & Olga for there Help in making the day so memorable.
And last but far from least Thank every one for the Great Pot Luck dishes
Gene Schouweiler WØKAD
President GVARC
Hi Gene
Cool site, thanks for the web address and for posting our picture in it. I got my license for the FCC website today, it is KE7GUR. Couldn't have done it without you. Thanks to all the crew. Now to look for a good handheld transceiver. What model(s) do you suggest? Thanks again.
George Vasquez Jr., TSgt, USAF
NCOIC Intelligence Operations Flight
755 OSS/INO "Compass Call" Intel Ops
DSN 228-9152/9150, Comm (520) 228-9152/9150
Ed. George was our club speaker in November 2005.
Having negotiated a considerable maze of semi paved roads, we arrived at the Williams ham fest in the early afternoon, in a state of sticker shock as a result of the almost $3.00 per gallon gasoline at the stations just outside the fairgrounds.
The premises covered a considerable swath of land, upon which was arranged a multitude of sellers, sizzling in the sun, sitting (simultaneously) in full lotus position, each adjacent to their respective displays, which consisted, by and large, of what appeared to be the detritus from Thomas Edison’s lab, a failed WW2 Army Surplus Store, the contents of Lloyd Miller’s garage, some used women’s clothing, (one can only imagine the relationship between three biliously colored purses, and a toaster with two wires suspiciously protruding from the bottom, to a ham fest, but who are we to argue?) All of which had been shoveled into cardboard boxes, theoretically, under a threateningly baleful spousal eye, with strict instructions not to bring anything back (if and) when they came.
History would have been revised, had Peter Stuyvesant attempted to trade the aggregate value of this array, for Manhattan Island.
Inside the Main Tent we were greeted by a myriad of what would, and should, have been supporting exhibits, for the big players, had there been any big players. The legislature governing Williams had seen to it the big players would not be there, by imposing a sales tax of 9.5%, insuring that even if a big player were to offer a good deal, it wouldn’t have been such a good deal at all at the Williams ham fest. One could order the same item from the catalogue cheaper. It was like a three ring circus…missing the center ring.
There were booths where one could purchase pins or license plates with your call-sign, booths selling computer interface devices for echolink, or the many digital radio/computer modes, and booths selling interesting electrical connections. In addition, there was an entire category of booths consisting of copious and multifarious sects of disaster groupies, each emblazoned with unique insignia. To borrow a phrase from an old song, there were big ones, small ones, and some as big as your head. There were Red Badges of courage, Yellow badges, where courage was apparently not a factor, and badges of almost every imaginable color. Your insignia may vary.
The inscription on the Statue of Liberty says “Give us your Tired, your Poor, your Huddled masses”
Hypothetically, the icon, featuring the tower, merely says, “Give us everyone else”
The implication in each case is, that having given them, immediately, like the penitents at the shrine at Mount St. Anne, they will throw down their crutches and dance the ol’ Grizzly Bear. At the very least, members of these sects satisfy the human herding instinct. Their insignia indicates that they are MEMBERS. That seems to be the important thing. Consider, if you will, that there are three separate and distinct branches of MARS, Army, Navy and Air Force. I can think of no other reason for the distinction.
In addition to the foregoing, there was an interesting character there, selling raffle tickets. She may be under indictment by the World Court at the Hague, for Crimes against Humanity, as it appeared that she bit the heads off several hams who had legitimate questions.
Oh, did I mention that the officials there offered to spouses, at the Holiday inn, a new feature…day camp for women, where they could draw or color in coloring books. I’m sure many ladies enjoyed themselves there. I’m not sure if they offered lobotomies.
There are pros and cons of attending a Ham Fest:
On the Con side
1. Do not go to a ham fest looking for bargains.
a. The sales tax in Williams makes it almost impossible for the vendor to offer a bargain.
b. Most of the stuff there, you don’t want.
c. The stuff you do want, you can buy cheaper elsewhere.
2. Your wife is SURE to enjoy day camp.
3. The “Tourist Trap Syndrome” is going to cost you some money.
On the Pro side
1. Williams is an hour’s ride from the Grand Canyon
2. Ham Fests have some interesting seminars
3. It’s nice to be able to put faces on the names of some of the people with whom you’ve spoken in the past.
We had the good fortune to spend the week-end with George and Anne Birch. We were often joined by President Gene, and Ray. People like that really “make” a weekend. In the end, we had a great time.
Bob (AD7FQ) & Linda (AD7FP)
Do you have a Suggestion for the Radio Club?
Have an Idea? Pass it on to the GVARC President.