A channel that shows my hobbies and interests, Ham Radio, Drones, Travel. I’m new to RU-vid so be patient ! . I’ve been licensed as a intermediate Ham Radio operator for 20 years and had no interest in progressing to full, but times have changed since meeting my Spanish partner so I intend to progress to full to enjoy the hobby in Spain. Drones I’ve been into for around 7 years with a growing fleet, I’ve also obtained my CAA A2 CofC qualification in the UK, also enjoy astronomy looking up into heavens with my Meade ETX LS 8inch ACF telescope.
To know more about me and my day to day job see links below
I've been toying with the idea of getting one of these antennas as I'm working from a narrowboat and so have limited options as far as antennas go. I've been messing around with some Ampro hamsticks with mixed results so looking at something else. I think this antenna might be just what I'm looking for. Cheers and 73s!
Hi Jason very impressive antenna and the results you got on the main HF bands was just amazing and your antenna was only a couple of foot off the ground and it still worked brilliant so now that I've seen it in action I might buy one myself and test it out I've got a Yaesu FT-950 and I'll be able to get the SWR down with the automatic ATU built in to my radio no problem at all so I'm going to invest in getting one very soon. Thanks and best 73's for now cheers Stephen M3SNV 73's.
Nice piece of land for antennas! I'm amazed that those UHF Satcom birds are still in service, given that they are pirated regularly. And a nice BIRD you have there too!
@@jason2e1hko59 hi Jason. Look forward to that one. I have about 100 feet of rg58 coax on this one. I might try rg213 and see if it makes any difference. I have had not had much luck with 40 MTRS on ours. Will keep playing. 👍
Jason, great video are you any good with the FT 450D by any chance?? I'm stumped with settings but so annoyed seen as I've used this interface on the FT 2000, FT857D and FTDX1200 but I cannot get this 450 to play ball!! Just out of interest, on this video at 6:02 you're setting for PTT shows CAT selected but the drop down is USB, how did you change this as mine is always just the COM port mirrored from the left hand side. Any help appreciated mate Cheers Steve M0LVL
Hi Steve, thanks for your positive comments it’s much appreciated. Its been a while since I did the video using the SCU17 interface, I don’t have any experience using the FT450D. It was very frustrating trying to get it to work with the FT817 from what I remember. I’m sorry i can’t be of immediate help. I do have a friend with a 450D I’m not sure what he’s using as an interface ! I’ll keep you posted when I see him next. 73 2E1HKO
@@jason2e1hko59 All sorted now mate, I decided to plug in the RS-232 cable which on my other already mentioned setups was not needed and hey presto it worked without any adjustments at all! Bonkers why a modern rig like the 450D wouldn't just use the computer software to activate the CAT via USB is beyond me but all working now, many thanks for the reply mate and keep the videos going with new kit and ideas 👍👍
Hi Jason, thank you for the video and the AL-705 one. I am trying to decide which one as don't need two. Like AL-705, would fit in my bag. I know a subjective question but out of the two which do you prefer and why, please?
Hey ! Thanks for the kind words. For portable operation / fits in a bag. I would go with the AL-705 100%, it’s surprisingly easy to tune. A very smooth feel to the tuning capacitor. If you got caught out in a light shower I don’t think it would suffer, unlike the 2e0ero loop with its open air capacitor.
Hi I just purchased a uniden ubc125xlt for my daughter and we live in Nottingham could you advise me on a antenna to purchase so she can listen to air traffic control from home... Any advice greatly received... Thanks
The Homebase antenna I use is the diamond D777. You should hear air traffic speaking to EMA East Midlands Airport with the stock antenna try listening to frequency 124.005 MHz EMA on this frequency you will hear air traffic approaching and departing EMA and 126.175 is EMA Radar you will hear air traffic within EMA controlled airspace. Another good frequency is high altitude air traffic that goes over the Midlands 127.100 London Control. KR Jason
The close call on my Uniden 125 works great. I can pick up planes flying overhead, and even security guards radios in the shops around 3/4 mile away. I live in a raised position looking down over the town which may help with receiving the signal. Does the squelch setting have any bearing on the sensitivity of the close call mode ?
Condolences to you and your family. Why were the handheld scanners on the top left not mentioned? And the Yaesu 7900 is only a dual bander, the 8900 is the one, and the only one, that is the quad band .
Just a glorified dummy load . Far too expensive when you can get better results for a fraction of the cost with a ten meter fishing pole and a 9.1 unun
Im about to purchase a vertical antenna and can't make my mind up between the Diamond BB7V and the Comet CHA 250 it will be permanently fixed to the rear of the house at a height of roughly 18 feet, im told the Diamond works better closer to the ground not sure if this is correct !! Im also in South Wales
Yes the diamond BB7V does perform better closer to the ground. Having it higher may give you slightly higher SWR readings, I’m not sure about the CHA 250. Hopefully catch you on the air on my next visit to South Wales 👍
I have one too. It's in the shed because i don't have space anymore. Apartment. Used it in the past. But not in optimal setup. Wasn't that impressed at the time with TX. Made the antenne 1.5 meter longer and used a PVC coil to tune it up to 40 meters. Mono band. That didn't do bad! Also tried it with a 9:1 balun but not a good SWR on all bands. My conclusion: I can't use the antenna right now. If i ever move again, this thing goes on the roof or in the garden with radials. Its nice stealth. Original balun is be used for wideband SW RX coverage and its a good feeling that it can TX everywhere. I love the antenna. Would not recommend it for new users. It's expensive. There are better solutions and much cheaper.
I have mine for almost a year now. I'm in a noisy environment and have also a 1:1 choke in line. And grounded the loop. For the price its a good antenna. MW reception is pretty good i must say! 160/80 meter band surprisingly not so good. 40,20,11,10 fine!
I used to have similar antenna Comet CHA 250 , at urban crowded , tight space housing complex, vertical antenna's noise was so high, it was not suitable for receiving, but for any frequency higher than 14 MHz, it worked OK, I change to inverted L since I do mostly 10MHz and below. AG6JU
Hello, i'm just looking for this video ... today a fellow hamradio shared is setup at POTA Group Facebook and reported very nice signals with this antenna As I operate QRP also with my X6100 this video is very importan and useful SWR values are really very goods ... at 10 M swr was 2:3 ... the X6100 tuner managed to tune it? Many thanks for sharing / 73 CS7BDO
Nice overview of this loop but I was hoping that you would do an A/B comparison with your other antenna so that we could see the noise floor difference between them.
Hi David, thanks for the positive comment, I would have liked to do a a comparison with the Welbrook ALA1530 but these loops are hard to get hold of since wellbrook have stopped trading. The loop featured in this video,to this day is still working great. Have a great Christmas & New Year 73 Jason 2E1HKO
Id like to see a close call on UHF, my 125 is dog crap no matter what antenna i have it doesn’t pick up much at all even if I’m stood right at the fence with pre programmed freqs
Interesting video. I have two FT 991A's and comparing the ATU in both Yaesu's to my TS590SG, the ATU in the Yaesu can not compare or even come close the the ATU in my TS590SG. Both the tuner in the Kenwood and the Yaesu are rated for up to a 3 to 1 SWR. Bottom line, the ATU's in both of my FT-991A's and the ATU in our club's FT-991(non A) are terrible. I was going to get either an FT-710 or an FTDX 10 but since the ATU in my 991 sucks, I am sure the other two Yaesu radios use the same junkie ATU. I really like my FT-991's, hence the reason I have two of them, but you must use a very good resonant matched antenna on these radios. Barry, KU3X
Hi Jason. Very interesting and thanks. I too am Raynet (wales) and use the same ft8900r. So if I’ve understood correctly you set the two frequencies (2m and 70 cms) as cross band repeater on the 8900 and that means you can use a handled or two handhelds to communicate via the 8900 if you are away from your vehicle for example. Have I understood that correctly as it would be very useful when on events. Is it that simple or have I missed something. I guess the handheld are on lowest power setting also ?
Sorry for the delay in responding. Yes it’s as simple as that. You can leave in a unsupervised in a vehicle, but it’s normally within close proximity. We have done this many times Once in cross band repeat the radio is locked, so you would have to use a Hand Held radio also 👍 73
