50 years ago, places like Lafayette and Radio Shack sold things called "porta-packs". You slipped a five watt mobile radio in, loaded up with "D" batteries, found a hilltop, extended the built-in telescoping antenna, and had a good time.
That's what happens when you're pushing high power on the order of 4 watts. Peter's one of those guys who thinks life's too short to run less than a Watt. :)
Been by 10 and 11 meters all morning and arvo in the shack trying to beat the heat currently 46.5C. Absolutely dead as a maggot here in Kalgoorlie. Not heard a dickybird other than a local mate trying for DX in vane. Yesterday by contrast was full on. BTW, looks like 4Watts is too much for the little inductor. Ready to let the magic out . Great video Peter, I do like the manpack pole idea.
im about to get a little 27mhz setup here in greenbushes shortly, Not entirely sure how it all works but you'll probably be too far for line of sight and not far enough for skip transmissons i would guess but it would be awesome to be able to talk to kal
@@JoshDavies111 You never know Josh. I have had many 10/11m contacts from Perth, Rocky and Mandurah areas. Generally challenging but there are openings all the time. Try it, you may be surprised
I have done things like that . I used a 4 watt Thunder pole HT for radio. DX commander 7 or 10 meter pole. I fed my end fed half wave different. 49:1 made with t 240-43 or 61 core and 100 PF cap. adjust end of wire to tune. fold over. did not do range testing. I am in the US . NY state so was people to talk to on CB. I did take a QT 60 Radioddity 10/11/12 meter 60 watt SSB portable with 20 Ah LiFePO4 battery in a park . 10 meter pole strap to park bench . 49:1 end fed half wave . cut to tune 10/11/12 meters. in the AM local time. I talked to England SSB . I even did FT8 and JS8 call with laptop . even SSTV . worked hours on battery. over a 100 contacts. on 3 bands. I was using counter poise wire. and I did it again with different antenna. the T2LT . just a piece of RX 8X cut and 65mm plastic bottle for coil form. that makes center fed half wave. all the great HAM wire antenna's work 27MHz . just cut to length . 73's
I have a Royce CB 651, in great working condition, I changed out its batteries with LiFePO₄. Also a XIEGU G90 with a toybox antenna. Wish I could take them out like you, I'm 75 and walking very far is getting hard.
In the 70s i had a cb mounted on my 10 speed bike Back then there were plenty of people to talk too.Recently (2024) Europe has been coming in strong on ssb in Maryland
Years ago, I did some 10m SSB pedestrian or backpack mobile with a 4-foot whip clamped to a metal backpack frame - trivially easy. The lead acid battery was heavy. After a while I began to wonder about the RF safety of 25 watts of RF right beside my head.
I still have my old Pearce Simpson Super Lion MK II AM/SSB CB in the cupboard, haven't used it for quite a few years, trying this would be a good excuse to pull it out and power it up again, wouldn't have a problem finding a variable capacitor to build that antenna tuner, I work in a e-waste recycling warehouse and there's plenty of old radios that come into the place to get one out of, and the other parts i'd need.
I think I may replicate this except use a Mag Loop I made from a 26" aluminum bicycle rim. Instead of recording the audio I would just place an old cell phone with the Rattlegram App running on it. Then I could send Rattlegram text messages from my phone and CB Radio back to my home station where that phone would pickup those messages. Then I could return and scroll down the messages to check the ground wave range. Any missing messages would show where my signal dropped out.
Interesting and nice setup. Instead of using this low-Q "resistor-style" inductor I would wind 15 turns of enameled wire on an T68-2 toroid core to decreaser the losses. Thanks for the great video BTW! 73 de Peter (DK7IH)
Thanks. Though for 27 MHz I'd be inclined to favour type 6 (yellow) material rather than type 2 (red) for the toroid if you have it. A T50-6 would be fine.
Some great ideas here and thanks for sharing. I might try a similar thing using a Clansman metal frame backpack which would give me more support for the pole. I noticed yours moved around a little and a metal frame might be better for earth and counterpoise. Plenty of room to experiment! Thanks for making the video. 73 G0ACE
And under the overhead power cable, all they found was a pair of smoking crocks! That aside, a very interesting and informative video Peter. I wonder how a magnetic loop would have functioned? Would have been more compact and perhaps safer in an urban environment?
I checked 27 and 28 mhz on my xhdata d-808 after your last video Peter and beginning to hear US and Italian CB and strong CW signals on 10 meters. I wonder if you'll be able to make some DX contacts with this setup over the next couple of years
Is 27mhz still used by marine transceivers or have they also switched to 477mhz ? I have a couple of old CB's I'll have to drag out and have some 'private' comms 😂
All right I watched the video interesting and good however yes you can get more distance out of those 5 miles should be a good start I can do 10 MI with a modified TRC 216 double coil antenna or I can even do from SFU Mountain to the gulf Islands I can also do SFU Mountain to Victoria basically I can do a bit more range however I need to have altitude ultimately from let's say I did a test from a Stanley Park to North Vancouver did a test from North Vancouver to Gibson and I managed to reach someone on the a.m. must have been about close to 20 km and I did make contact with other people however yes there's a lot of noise and also having a counterpoise will definitely make a difference definitely it's a bit more challenging on the a.m. it is more noisy I also did manage to make contact on from Vancouver to Arkansas on top of the Vancouver Public Library however this is very rare using 4 to 6 Watts double coil antenna basically using a TRC 217 on of an antenna on top of a TRC 216 antenna it helped of course increase the height however the inductance probably got better less resistance resistance better for the signal radio signal and yes definitely saltwater will help you improve your signal you can use salt water as a partial conductor it definitely has improved the results when I was by saltwater transmitting signal from up a hill to all the way out to Vancouver let's say SFU it's about 10 mi in a signal came out decently then I also made a contact from SFU Mountain to going almost all the way out to Nanaimo on a fairy so basically two portables it's still doable there are factors that are involved yes and it's going to change day to day I think that you could have got more results just by using a portable TRC 217 or TRC 216 the t17 is more sensitive to receive sorry to 217 is more sensitive to receive it's going to give you an output between 4 to 5 Watts you can probably twick it up to 7 and it will definitely carry your signal quite far is the type of internet using yes it definitely helps however calibration as well the coils that are using interior c216 TRC 217 are very effective anyways point of view yes you can get more range it's just a question of trying different things
@@vk3ye There is also a Menu "Audio Setup". In it among other Settings, also the Numbers of "Recording Channels" "1" or "2" can be selected. "1" is mono "2" is stereo.
I did many years ago with a crystal controlled CB where I could swap crystals around. But SSB CBs are quite rare, expensive used and, for post 1980s models, hard to convert. There's better options around now.
50 years ago, places like Lafayette and Radio Shack sold things called "porta-packs". You slipped a five watt mobile radio in, loaded up with "D" batteries, found a hilltop, extended the built-in telescoping antenna, and had a good time.
That inductor has seen a little heat :D
That's what happens when you're pushing high power on the order of 4 watts. Peter's one of those guys who thinks life's too short to run less than a Watt. :)
10 - 4
Been by 10 and 11 meters all morning and arvo in the shack trying to beat the heat currently 46.5C.
Absolutely dead as a maggot here in Kalgoorlie.
Not heard a dickybird other than a local mate trying for DX in vane.
Yesterday by contrast was full on.
BTW, looks like 4Watts is too much for the little inductor.
Ready to let the magic out .
Great video Peter, I do like the manpack pole idea.
im about to get a little 27mhz setup here in greenbushes shortly, Not entirely sure how it all works but you'll probably be too far for line of sight and not far enough for skip transmissons i would guess but it would be awesome to be able to talk to kal
@@JoshDavies111 You never know Josh.
I have had many 10/11m contacts from Perth, Rocky and Mandurah areas.
Generally challenging but there are openings all the time.
Try it, you may be surprised
I have done things like that . I used a 4 watt Thunder pole HT for radio. DX commander 7 or 10 meter pole. I fed my end fed half wave different. 49:1 made with t 240-43 or 61 core and 100 PF cap. adjust end of wire to tune. fold over. did not do range testing. I am in the US . NY state so was people to talk to on CB. I did take a QT 60 Radioddity 10/11/12 meter 60 watt SSB portable with 20 Ah LiFePO4 battery in a park . 10 meter pole strap to park bench . 49:1 end fed half wave . cut to tune 10/11/12 meters. in the AM local time. I talked to England SSB . I even did FT8 and JS8 call with laptop . even SSTV . worked hours on battery. over a 100 contacts. on 3 bands. I was using counter poise wire. and I did it again with different antenna. the T2LT . just a piece of RX 8X cut and 65mm plastic bottle for coil form. that makes center fed half wave. all the great HAM wire antenna's work 27MHz . just cut to length . 73's
I have a Royce CB 651, in great working condition, I changed out its batteries with LiFePO₄.
Also a XIEGU G90 with a toybox antenna. Wish I could take them out like you, I'm 75 and walking very far is getting hard.
In the 70s i had a cb mounted on my 10 speed bike Back then there were plenty of people to talk too.Recently (2024) Europe has been coming in strong on ssb in Maryland
Years ago, I did some 10m SSB pedestrian or backpack mobile with a 4-foot whip clamped to a metal backpack frame - trivially easy. The lead acid battery was heavy.
After a while I began to wonder about the RF safety of 25 watts of RF right beside my head.
I still have my old Pearce Simpson Super Lion MK II AM/SSB CB in the cupboard, haven't used it for quite a few years, trying this would be a good excuse to pull it out and power it up again, wouldn't have a problem finding a variable capacitor to build that antenna tuner, I work in a e-waste recycling warehouse and there's plenty of old radios that come into the place to get one out of, and the other parts i'd need.
Greetings from Alaska
Doing this with SSB in good conditions would make a great video!
I think I may replicate this except use a Mag Loop I made from a 26" aluminum bicycle rim. Instead of recording the audio I would just place an old cell phone with the Rattlegram App running on it. Then I could send Rattlegram text messages from my phone and CB Radio back to my home station where that phone would pickup those messages. Then I could return and scroll down the messages to check the ground wave range. Any missing messages would show where my signal dropped out.
10 - 4
Need a full diy cb radio video... Give it a thought
Interesting and nice setup. Instead of using this low-Q "resistor-style" inductor I would wind 15 turns of enameled wire on an T68-2 toroid core to decreaser the losses. Thanks for the great video BTW! 73 de Peter (DK7IH)
Thanks. Though for 27 MHz I'd be inclined to favour type 6 (yellow) material rather than type 2 (red) for the toroid if you have it. A T50-6 would be fine.
I love AM CB, it's such a shame it is so under used
Some great ideas here and thanks for sharing. I might try a similar thing using a Clansman metal frame backpack which would give me more support for the pole. I noticed yours moved around a little and a metal frame might be better for earth and counterpoise. Plenty of room to experiment! Thanks for making the video. 73 G0ACE
And under the overhead power cable, all they found was a pair of smoking crocks!
That aside, a very interesting and informative video Peter.
I wonder how a magnetic loop would have functioned? Would have been more compact and perhaps safer in an urban environment?
Magnetic loops work well. See the SummerLoop on my website and in numerous videos.
I checked 27 and 28 mhz on my xhdata d-808 after your last video Peter and beginning to hear US and Italian CB and strong CW signals on 10 meters. I wonder if you'll be able to make some DX contacts with this setup over the next couple of years
good going Peter, although I wonder why you used an AM set when a ssb radio is better on am as well as ssb
SSB CBs are rarer and 10-20 times more expensive to buy used.
Is it possible to modify the circuit so that L-match has a coaxial run to the radio? It seems that the capacitance of the coax upsets the match
Is 27mhz still used by marine transceivers or have they also switched to 477mhz ?
I have a couple of old CB's I'll have to drag out and have some 'private' comms 😂
Or you could use an Albrecht ae2990 with a 1.3 metre telescopic whip
All right I watched the video interesting and good however yes you can get more distance out of those 5 miles should be a good start I can do 10 MI with a modified TRC 216 double coil antenna or I can even do from SFU Mountain to the gulf Islands I can also do SFU Mountain to Victoria basically I can do a bit more range however I need to have altitude ultimately from let's say I did a test from a Stanley Park to North Vancouver did a test from North Vancouver to Gibson and I managed to reach someone on the a.m. must have been about close to 20 km and I did make contact with other people however yes there's a lot of noise and also having a counterpoise will definitely make a difference definitely it's a bit more challenging on the a.m. it is more noisy I also did manage to make contact on from Vancouver to Arkansas on top of the Vancouver Public Library however this is very rare using 4 to 6 Watts double coil antenna basically using a TRC 217 on of an antenna on top of a TRC 216 antenna it helped of course increase the height however the inductance probably got better less resistance resistance better for the signal radio signal and yes definitely saltwater will help you improve your signal you can use salt water as a partial conductor it definitely has improved the results when I was by saltwater transmitting signal from up a hill to all the way out to Vancouver let's say SFU it's about 10 mi in a signal came out decently then I also made a contact from SFU Mountain to going almost all the way out to Nanaimo on a fairy so basically two portables it's still doable there are factors that are involved yes and it's going to change day to day I think that you could have got more results just by using a portable TRC 217 or TRC 216 the t17 is more sensitive to receive sorry to 217 is more sensitive to receive it's going to give you an output between 4 to 5 Watts you can probably twick it up to 7 and it will definitely carry your signal quite far is the type of internet using yes it definitely helps however calibration as well the coils that are using interior c216 TRC 217 are very effective anyways point of view yes you can get more range it's just a question of trying different things
I thought 27 CB in Australia was in the trash can long ago or even banned and replaced with UHF.
The aim was to move everyone to UHF but they ended up keeping 27 MHz. AM is very quiet though.
Will the tuner you are using in the video, with its higher value capacitor, work on 12 or 10 metres please?
Yes. It does need a low minimum capacitance as explained.
@@vk3ye Thanks!
Setup Audacity to record to a monaural track, then you will not get that L-R audio phase problem.
Good idea. I looked briefly for the mono setting but couldn't find it.
@@vk3ye There is also a Menu "Audio Setup". In it among other Settings, also the Numbers of "Recording Channels" "1" or "2" can be selected. "1" is mono "2" is stereo.
No CB please
Have you thought of converting an old CB to 10m? G7VFY
I did many years ago with a crystal controlled CB where I could swap crystals around. But SSB CBs are quite rare, expensive used and, for post 1980s models, hard to convert. There's better options around now.
@@vk3ye There are 10m am users, and not just Bill Meara. It's a cheap way for US novice hams to get on HF. Just a suggestion. G7VFY.
Why destroy a vintage radio when you can buy a better one?
@@spaceflight1019 Try substituting the word 'vintage' for 'worthless'. They are not, rare or desirable.
@@G7VFY Day Two of my replies being deleted for no reason...