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Ham Radio Rocks
United States
Приєднався 17 кві 2020
Ham Radio - Amateur Radio Reviews, Adventures & Testing QRP Radios & QRP Antennas. Will often live broadcast QSO's. I current own an ICOM 7300, ICOM 705 as well as many other handheld radios. I also use a ZS6BKW antenna as well as a BuddiHex, Chameleon F-Loop, Wolf River Coil, and a DX Commander. I look forward to showcasing this great hobby with you.
73!
73!
Ham Radio Contacts with ZS6BKW and 100 watts
Making Ham Radio contacts with a ZS6BKW Dipole. Trying to make 10 QSOs in 10 minutes. Did I do it? Contacts made to W7BAK, VE7TBN, K7JDT, K7ELJ, KG7IL, KA6JAR.
Переглядів: 312
Відео
ZS6BKW Antenna at 50ft!!
Переглядів 2296 місяців тому
Finally redeployed the ZS6BKW! I got it up 50 feet using a 60 ft Spiderpole. Band conditions are not good so I am patiently waiting for improvement!
Ocean Digital WR860 Internet Radio
Переглядів 1,9 тис.7 місяців тому
This is my unboxing and review of the Ocean Digital WR860 Internet radio. This is an internet radio that streams free internet radio. Link to Radio: amzn.to/3TOu2ce This is a great alternative to the Squeezebox internet radios. I was extremely surprised at how great it sounds for a streaming internet radio device.
Fiberglass Mast Support
Переглядів 5687 місяців тому
If you need a way to hold your fiberglass pole or need antenna mast support, you could use a bucket! This will allow you to hold the pole to support a dipole or other wire antenna. Here is the PVC pipe: amzn.to/4agKLKv Here is the Pipe Cap: amzn.to/3wSD6DM Here is the flange: amzn.to/3Vifnat I found it cheaper here at the links above. Get the bucket at your local hardware store. It works nicely...
ZS6BKW Antenna (G5RV) Install
Переглядів 42310 місяців тому
Check out my new deployment of my ZS6BKW antenna. I had to remove it because the new owner of the house behind me cut the trees down so now I put it back up and I have a good QSO. It seems to be working well. 73
Preparing reinstall of ZS6BKW Antenna
Переглядів 27910 місяців тому
I had to temporarily take down my ZS6BKW antenna and now I’m going to be reinstalling it using some temporary buckets which will support the fiberglass mast/pole. The ZS6BKW is a great antenna it sort of does it all, if you can get this antenna up even in an HOA, it might be your best option for a wire antenna that will work with a lot of the bands.
Chameleon F-Loop 3.0 Plus with Remote Tuner Unboxing!
Переглядів 29811 місяців тому
This is my unboxing of the Chameleon F-Loop 3.0 magnetic loop antenna with the RT-1 Remote Loop Tuner! A great QRP Antenna or portable HF Antenna. No radial HF antenna! Music by Bensound.com/royalty-free-music License code: GVH5FQ8NIW4FL7KI Music by Bensound.com/royalty-free-music License code: H9RP4MMHVINDYVZT
My Antenna Trees are being chopped down!
Переглядів 4211 місяців тому
New neighbor decided to cut down all the trees I use to hide my antenna!
QSO with Micro PA50+ Amplifier ICOM 705
Переглядів 2,2 тис.11 місяців тому
Ham Radio with the Micro PA50 HF Amplifier and the ICOM 705. Testing this combination with actual QSO’s in the backyard.
Micro PA50 Plus HF Amplifier First Thoughts
Переглядів 5 тис.11 місяців тому
Adding a 50 Watt amplifier to my ICOM-705. Today I connect and test a Micro PA-50 amplifier from AliExpress. Probably the best lower cost QRP Amplifier available.
Hi Mike, have you trest disconnecting the BAND pin? The 705 has the ALC signal in the center pin and not the band selection. However, I think that by connecting only PTT+GND the switching works. I ordered my MicroPA but I'm still waiting for its arrival. 73
My home made ZS6BKW is one of my very favourite Antennas. Happy Humpday into SoCali. 73 de Uncle Günter across the Pond 💯🙋♂
I'm glad I chose that as my go to antenna. I find I use it more than the DX commander, for now. I think the DX Commander will have its strengths especially with DX. Have a great weekend! 73
Working well I see
Yes sir! Good ol Dipole. Can’t go wrong!
@@HamRadioRocks I built a 3 band fan dipole for my favorite bands. It works very well
youtubers are too paranoid about copyright strikes. you wouldn't get a strike for a few seconds of audio for a radio product review. just talk while the music is playing if you're that worried. There's such a thing as fair use. It's sad how people won't even play 2 seconds because they're scared of the big bad Google wolf.
This radio does have indeed DAB/DAB+ radio but that works only in certain countries in Europe where it is broadcasting. My favorite radio ever and i had more expensive models .
What a shame
Okay-that is wayyyy stronger than 5-1!! 😅 Simon is great though.
I started listening to online radio box 70s stations on my laptop. Does this radio access those 70s music stations and do i need router and modem?
You need your wifi Internet connection and that's it, nothing else. Unique feature of this radio is that use the Skyline platform, so if this does disappear in the future, you will still be able to use there radio as you can enter the desired Internet radio station URL address manually.
@@safugpac2691 Thank you. I'll check it out.
How high are the ends?
About 25-30 feet.
I always tx on vertical ants and rx on dipoles. Verticals always pick up more noise. 73 zl3xdj
Truth ⬆️
Just curious...Can anything be heard on the Ocean Digital WR-860's DAB band here in the USA?
hey ron, im going to be buying this radio soon so i looked over the manual online and this is what it said about DAB; "If there is Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) in your area, the Radio can pick up the DAB stations as well (no internet connection is required). The Radio supports both DAB and DAB+." hope that helps!
I'm torn. I want to get this loop, but the Alpha Antenna Loop which is very highly rated will do up to 100w for 40-10 meters
I always answer POTA stations as a hunter Never activate. That way you don't have to put up with the "sad hams who own the frequency". I learned this from the cb days.
I have a ZS6BKW in an inverted V configuration which works extremely well. I did need to trim both ends several times as I measured SWR with my Rig Expert analyzer. As Dave Casper says about Antennas, "everything affects everything". You will need to adjust each leg for best SWR using a reliable antenna analyzer. I expect that this will produce the best SWR that your system is capable of. Good Luck, 73, Fred. KC2PK
Can this be used with XIEGU G90 using SSB? Thanks!
I’m pretty sure you’d be ok. Although I believe the G90 puts out 20 watts stock, so I’m not so sure it would be of much of an s-unit benefit to get 30 more watts. I was really on the border picking this up knowing the 705 on battery does 10 watts.
Great rig and amp, have fun.
It sure is! 🙂 73
Very nice. From personal experience however such a long pole will not last long. I used a very thick 33ft one (10 meters) but after 4 years it was broken by a strong wind. Now I'm using an aluminum mast.
Thanks for sharing, enjoy🎼✨
You talk too much as evidenced by your 2 minutes of wasted time for the intro!
I'm getting the materials together to install my masts. My plan is for 2 masts. 1 mast will be 16 feet tall just outside the window next to my station to keep the feedline down to a minimum. The other mast will be about 60 feet away in the back yard. It will be 12 feet tall. The 2 masts will be used to support an EFHW. This method here will save me the time and effort digging down 2 feet in order to sink the 1-1/4" PVC pipe I will be using as a ground sleeve. The masts themselves are 4.5 foot steel tv antenna mast extension sections I got at Lowes for $7.50 each. There is about a 6" overlap between the sections as they swage together. This concrete in a bucket idea looks like the better option, because, as you said, it allows the assembly to be relocated as needed.
That sounds great! I’ve been wanting to try an EFHW! I’ve heard nothing but good results. Once the weather warms up I plan on doing a-b tests on various antennas. The things that excite me! Haha
Cool review. I just recently bought the F-loop 3.0 DIY kit. Looking forward to seeing your review.
I can’t want to play with it and uploading some tests. Thanks for watching ! 73
Never..ever acknowledge that you can hear hecklers. Just roll through your contacts. Pick the loud signals and go on and on about how strong their signal is.
The DX Commander is aimed at getting you a low launch angle for TX. Even Callum uses a LOG antenna for receive. And don’t forget the dipole is directional so a station 90 degrees off from your received station in the video would most likely be subject to higher noise as the AGC lifts the signal up. I think other people have pointed out noise affects different antenna in different ways so it makes sense to have several in hand to switch through. Have you ever played around with a LOG (loop on the ground) antenna? It would be interesting to see a 3 antenna comparison. Using WSPR and FT8 to test. Obviously you can’t transmit on the LOG. 73 John
I have a Chameleon loop antenna that I have had much time to play around with. I am planning more antenna experiments soon. My neighbor cut down all his trees that I used as wire support so I am in the process of redoing my antennas. Then had a new fence put in and the fencing guys chopped through a coax line. 🤦♂️ I can’t wait to get back to experimenting. I also have a BuddiHex still in the box. 73
My grandpas saying applies here. “As I have gone through life’s highways and byways I soon found out that there were more horses asses than there were horses 🐎 “. WB9VVH in TN
any new updates on this amp? Is it still working ok?
I haven’t used it in a while as my antennas are down temporarily at the QTH. I should have everything back in a few weeks. I’ve been looking forward to testing it more. 73
My PA 50+ does not work on 30m or 15m. Says "BYP" in the upper right. Is running 2.8.5. Anyone else experience this or have a fix?
Figured it out, There is a multi-click option that is missing from every manual I can find, that is for "30/15m Open/Close". This comes up after 8 clicks. Do the 8 clicks until it says "open". Then power the amp off and back on. This seems to enable/disable 30m and 15m operation. Same as for the 7 click menu option for "17m/15m SWR On/Off". No mention in the manuals, but turns the SWR meter on and off for 17 and 15m (no power cycle needed).
I have the same problem...glad you found a fix...but doesnt 8 clicks set unlimited mode?@@pnwgeek
I have the same problem and have the same 2.8.5 firmware. I like your fix but I thought 8 clicks puts the amp in unlimited mode.... Update:. I just tried your fix and it works perfectly, thank you. Apparently in this version, 8 clicks do not put the unit into unlimited mode but in fact does exactly as you stated. So either they eliminated the unlimited choice or maybe its something else like 4 clicks or 9. There has to be an updated manual out there, finding it is the problem. Thanks again, I have been searching for weeks just to find anyone who had the same issue until I found your comment.
@@pnwgeek It probably comes disabled because the amp has third harmonics on 30/15 that don't meet the spurious emission requirements in the US.
My PA 50+ does not work on 30m or 15m. Says "BYP" in the upper right. Is running 2.8.5. Anyone else experience this or have a fix?
I figured it out. There is a multi-click option that is missing from every manual I can find, that is for "30/15m Open/Close". This comes up after 8 clicks. Do the 8 clicks until it says "open". Then power the amp off and back on. This seems to enable/disable 30m and 15m operation. Same as for the 7 click menu option for "17m/15m SWR On/Off". No mention in the manuals, but turns the SWR meter on and off for 17 and 15m (no power cycle needed).
My goodness, some people are so immature. But DON'T critique their hobby.
Do you need an external tuner for the zx6bkw?
Zs6bkw*
Not for 40-20-17 or 10. I can tune it up on 80 with the external tuner.
Will there be a version covers 6m?
How are your longer term usage reports on SSB audio quality? Are you using it stock or have you adjusted the Mosfet gate drive? I Have one but as I'm still going through the convoluted process of getting licensed in Japan it is getting modded (BNC conversion) and tweaked rather than put on the air.
I have not used it much since this video. I will post another video and try to get some sound recordings from someone or record from an online SDR. I am using it stock. How much more power can it drive modified?
@@HamRadioRocks apologies for the slow reply. As regards the drive, people are adjusting it to improve performance (reduce spurious/harmonics, improve audio clarity) which results in a small loss in output power. You have to remember that there is very little real world difference between say 50W and 40W. As an aside, the/my rule of thumb when considering more power is 4x. If you have a 10W device aim for 40W or more in your PA. If you had a 50W rig and assuming you are appropriately licensed you'd aim for 200W. The idea being that investing in a PA that does not give you a 4x improvement is not very cost effective when considering the performance gain.
Is great WHEN it works n don't just give you a high pitch noise
I haven’t had that problem yet. I’m sure the future will be companies that incorporate that kind of filtering into their radios. They have to keep us buying. 😂 73
👍❤
👍❤From personal experience your neighbors will probably not even notice the wire. People these days are not used to look above since there is typically no danger there (any predators etc). I check this theory regularly by asking my guests "so what do you think about my huge HF antenna" and they constantly answer "what antenna?" To clarify, I have a fan dipole for 7 HF bands, it's much more noticeable than ZS6BKW.
I hope they won't notice or mind too much. I'm thinking if it's over 30 feet high, it shouldn't be too noticeable. I think they will probably see the mast and that will bring attention to the wire.
Man that sucks ! Throw a hex beam up on a 25ft pole there. An efhw might be a better option inverted L up one pole and over to the older trees.
I have a BuddiHex still in the box that I cannot wait to play with. 😎 I wanted to put a K4KIO but I got too chicken to put up a permanent install antenna. With the BuddiHex I can keep it up for a few days, take it down, etc.. Test the neighbors reactions.. Haha!
@@HamRadioRocks hell yea
Super annoying but I guess the bright side is that we get to practice in "adverse" conditions(?). Maybe just mentally visualize that moron as QRM instead
How sensitive is it to SWR? I hear the original versions would shut down even on an SWR of 1.7
Chameleon products are very overpriced. Also I was not impressed by their communication with the customers about accessories to their products. I've built several magnetic loops, every time spending a fraction of their price and getting an excellent performance (for a compromise antenna that is). There is a great book dedicated to magnetic loops - "Magnetic Loop Antenna: Slightly Different Each Time".
It was definitely more than I wanted to spend, even with the Black Friday deal. 🙂I have seen mixed reviews of magnetic loops and how they perform overall. Not just specific to the Chameleon antennas but QRP Mag loops in general. I look forward to testing it soon along with some A-B tests with some various antennas I have. Thanks for letting me know about the book! I will check it out for sure! Thanks for watching, I appreciate you! 73
yo! thank you-gorgeous content! 📢
Knucklehead must have drifted down from 14.313. What a dick!
That sucks. I can't imagine NOT wanting trees, even for a non-ham.
No trees time for a tower
Exactly what I was thinking my friend!! The trees gave me privacy to mess around with my antennas and to hide my ZS6BKW. Well, now I'm like, fine. Enjoy the view of my antenna farm! hahahahah
Can't beat it for the price. Neat little amp. Barry
😭
I have recently picked up the less expensive OGS-50. Only tested it using 0.8 watts as input & it output 25 watts. I heard the OGS-50 does not necessarily have a good impedance match between the source rig and the amp's input. I am waiting on a soon to be published easy fix for this before I use the amp much. This leads me to wonder if your amp has a similar issue. If so, I suppose the reflected power could damage our PA on our rig.
The Micro PA50(+) is supposed to be higher quality. It's worth the price difference.
As a few have stated, it is frequency sensing, so all that is truly needed is to have it installed inline with the antenna. That said, I really like mine. It pairs very nicely with my X6100 & Antuner AT-100M ATU, as everything is very compact and easily packable. It works rather well with my DX Commander Signature 9 (w/80m inverted L element swap), and I was able to 6 band both of the recent A25R and W8S DXpeditions, including an 80M QSO to W8S from South TX.
I have one of these. Good amp but watch for random SWR spikes in CW. I modified mine to key via the key line from the radio. The frequency/band switches automatically.
What do you mean, watch for random spikes?
@@mrtechie6810 , when in CW and transmitting, a random “open” will occur in the amp which causes a full deflection SWR spike as seen by the ICOM 705. TX delay settings had little effect. Root cause: the TX relay is tied to the “RF sense” feature; it was missing a relay closure randomly. Fix action: I pulled the keying relay from the board, reassigned the 1/8” socket to the relay via wire, pulled 5VDC from the the board, and then resoldered the relay to the board standing on its own leads. As the 1/8” jack never worked as designed (it was supposed to sense the 705 or the Xeigu radios when selected), it is now plugged into the 705 key line. When the radio keys and drops the key line to zero volts, the relay sees a difference in potential on one side of the coil and closes. Now I have perfect CW with no spurious SWR spikes. I now use a cable to control amp keying…. Also did the firmware update to 2.6. See UA-cam or Google about the update.
It auto switches bands. My routine is to change band on radio, turn off amp to tune new band, it will switch then as you tune. Turn amp on and transmit. If your tuner has memories, just change bands, the amp will switch almost immediately. They are solid amps, I think you will like it.
What a pathetic, miserable life some people must lead.
Need to try this with a trusdx
I have a TruSDX now and this amp coming in now, I might give it a shot and let you know