It's funny how people "communicate" through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp and what not, sharing as much as they can .. But if you try to communicate all over the world by talking to a fellow radio enthousiast through a transceiver and a mike sending out a signal, all of a sudden your some kind of nutcase 😂 Good video Andy! 73
Are yeah, roger, 10-4 there good buddy, I got my ears on there go, back to ya... You would be talking about those, narcissistic sociopaths vs the aimless, mindless automatons ;)
Thanks, that was very interesting, enjoyed watching. Yes, people ask me why I get on the radio when I have a cell phone, I tell them you can't just pick up your phone and dial a random number and meet someone with similar interests in the hobby you enjoy.
CB and Ham was a big part of my childhood, listen for hours to people around the world 🌎 was just amazing. Now I just use Websdr's around the world to listen people around the world, never of thought possible 40 years ago. Great vídeos Andy thanks 👍🏻👍🏻
Instead of forcing it into the center pin, I’ve found that it’s really easy to put a banana plug on the end of the wire and it connects quite easily into the the center pin of the tuner.
He mentioned that, but also that he felt that he would need to add a strain relief so as that the banana plug would not pull out or over stress the connector.
Hello Andy, thank you for simplifying and democratizing the hobby. I've been following your videos for a while, it's simple, grounded and well done. 73 John + 88 Dorota & Eva from the Free Bands
There's still NOTHING like the thrill of your equipment, antenna, battery, their all of the above and NOTHING but AIR in the middle! Best when sunspots hot. Not dependent on millions of people to get you across the long haul. Was an operator before, will be again. KC5SBF for amateur, (I can claim that back again) and SW797 for CB band. 27.375 was my home, 27.305 will become my new USB stomping ground. Yeah I know 30 is supposed to be AM. Sleepy's people basically owned 30 in the day. It will be OK. Looking forward to this next sunspot cycle.
Good one Andy. That antenna is no less a CB antenna than it is an amateur radio antenna. Always put a ground wire on any tuner, it will always improve the antenna performance, especially on 160 and 80m. Good info on the power output for different voltages, certainly worth knowing for portable work. I maintain my G0 call but have been a VK6 for decades. How on earth do you keep everything so spotlessly clean?
I had a speaker wire antenna up for almost 10 years until an ice storm took it down for me. it really is good for antenna work, it's kinda stealthy as well. my setup was speaker wire, and a homemade 1:9 UnUn and fed it through an auto-coupler and up to 100 watts. the only thing I only use stranded wire the solid type isn't very stout.
@@l.a.2646 Yeah, stranded wire is easier to work with, too, especially if you need to make quick, on-the-fly connections without soldering. Wrap the splice with a little electrical tape and you're golden as long as it's not under too much tension.
Nice to get a qrp Italian in the log, only .5Kw. Nice tuner I got the mat-705 because I couldn’t wait for the Icom one and I’ve never used it yet, lol . Nice house btw.
ha, funny if odd timing of your location and this video. I was watching your playlist on the solar power setup for your shed (thinking about a setup for my man cave). I know things move on but I really liked the set up you had in the shed.
I’ve used a similar setup for HF at home but mine knocked out our ADSL so my wife and kids banned use. Great little setup, quite simple and some great results by the look of it. As others have said in the comments, QRP is like fishing and the skill required is what makes it interesting.
This is MASSIVE! When we were little Jonny Novices the old guys had us run down the Field Day Hill with a roll of 500 feet of wire and the Elmer in his pop-up (caravan) had an FT-101 and this roller tuner thing. All was wonderful until the lightning storm. Then all the sudden inside the tuner was this repetitive WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE-SNAP! WHEEEEEEEEEEE-SNAP! WHEEEEEEEEEE-SNAP. We ran like hell.
The "banana" plug thing is not supplied to the UK market. What I do tho, is mount a banana plug on the end of your random wire and plug it in the centre of the SO socket on the Tuner. You don't need an adaptor plug thing :)
I am a radio amateur, and my call is N2JBI, and I really enjoyed your video, and this makes me want to get that tuner, and a HF tranceiver and work the world with QRP power.
It's a great tuner, which I also bought recently to use with my new ICOM IC-705 😀. It matches everything, using 10 watts from the Mains power supply that I have for it. It does a better job than the built in tuner in my relatively new 100 watt Yaesu FT-991A, which can only handle about a 3:1 matching coverage on the bands. 73 de W2CH, Ray, Nashua NH USA 🇺🇸
Reminds me some 20-25ish years ago, a ham showed off his new rig with an integrated antenna tuner. Just plugged in a random wire attached it to an old heater/radiator standing in the shop (not connected to the pipes obv.) pressed a button and started a QSO with a friend of him. It was short range, sure, but i was more impressed that the room didn't start to smell of dead mosfets :) The clicking of the relays sounds still the same apperantly.
I have and AH-4 tuner and use it for portable set up (drive there and set up to transmit) 135 ft is about as big as practical for me to deploy and take down each time. I have shorter lengths for areas with smaller usable space.
Nice little video, definatly biasing my radio purchase to the 705. I play with ham radio, because I am interested in how, and dont want to be "just another dumb user.". 73
Thanks Andy , I typed Icom antenna tuner and you came up 👍🏽there is a new one coming out Icom AH-730, it’s quite a big beast and is around the £500 margin, knowing you I’m sure you’ll be doing a test on it 🙏best wishes mate, great videos as always 👍🏽
Always fun with those big antennas, I had a 160m long loop with a MFJ tuner up for a couple of years before a wind storm took out one of the trees supporting it. It was a lot of wire to get up there in the first place, and quite a mess to roll up again :-)
Hi Andy, I really enjoy your videos, thank you. I just got the Icom AH-730 fed with 10m of wire into my IC7300 and I'm really impressed with it. I've had QSOs on all bands from 160 to 10. Best Wishes David M7CZM
1 year on and I finally bought a 705! came back for tips and tricks as I got the tuner as well. I just came across my comment so had to drop another one.
That’s a cracking radio and ATU, actually tempted myself. 73s. I always ask people what their hobbies or interests are and then liken their interests to mine, it’s just different because we are all different.
Andy I have almost the same problem with my 500 ft wire with a PL-259. So after I soldered I used a hot glue gun and filled it to the top. It also makes it waterproof. Good DXing Andy. W4DRA
Probably the largest antenna ever used for amateur radio purposes consisted of 43 masts between 100 and 300 metres tall holding stacked rhombic antennas. obviously not rotatable. Located where ? Sorry official secrets act, but it was also used by the RAF as part of an over-the-horizon radar system. I often tested the backup system using CW. Never mentioned that I also had a 500KW transmitter. That is not a typo.
love it when andy hams harder👍 i may be swaying towards liking the poser lol, especially while i'm building my e-trike and powered push trailer, then all my research keeps fetching me to his channel and his sound advice
Very good Andy . I recently upgraded to General class , I have some decent rigs , but a lot to learn. But this seems like a pretty easy way to get on the air 👍. I’m almost finished with my 60 foot tower , I have a tribander dipole for 80/40/20 meters I’m going to hang at about 45 foot , wish me luck . Happy DX’ing , 73’s from Tennessee, USA 🇺🇸
Great results for such a lash-up (literally!) reckon you'd get out relatively well on just about anything! or at the very least, not blow your rig up when you try for top-band on a coathanger! Thanks mate!
Hey, Andy, thank you for the video and creating a learning atmosphere here. I would like to suggest a more proper use of a PL-259. Soldering is one of the simplest skills and one of the first that a ham should learn since it is used in almost every corner of our hobby. By folding the strands over the center pin and forcing it into the SO-239 on that gorgeous new tuner, it's possible that the fingers are now bent and won't make a great connection without the strands. It's really bad practice unless it was a priority to be on the air, and not a good message to propagate. Calling this a huge antenna is of course subjective, but I believe most would consider a 40m beam (especially when combined with a tri-bander on the same boom) a huge antenna such as Force 12 does with their products. I did enjoy learning about the 705 and the tuner, and I am happy that Icom keeps up the great work. I have a 756Pro, two 706's, and an AH-4 and that tuner will handle anything you throw at it. Be well, Mr. Andy!
Hey Andy - I am somewhat new to HAM and follow your videos. Where in the world are you located? I currently have 2 simple handhelds, the ICOM ID-51 and picked up the discontinued Yaesu VX-8DR.
Works well Andy!! De VK5FCHM Port Pirie South Australia. My home base is an Icom IC-718, with an LDG IT-100 auto tuner, RG213 coax, & a Hy-Gain VA-6160 antenna. My portable system is a Yaesu FT-891 radio, LMR-400 coax, & an ATAS-120 auto tune antenna, which is controlled from the radio. The unit I have in my car is a Yaesu FT-7900R, connected to a Supergainer SG7900 antenna using RG58 coax. My hand held is a Yaesu VX-6R dual band unit (my first radio).
Hi Andy I have always wondered what CB would be like on a wire antenna horizontal - Any chance you could test that setup for DX CB - I have always used verticals for CB but not Horizontal wire. All my SWL is dont on a G5RV but never really had much luck on CB because its not tuned obviously but wonder if its more people are vertical polarized ?
It'll work for DX mate, horizontal dipole will work very well. A long wire will work too if tuned like in this video, you might need to chuck some power at it though depending on how much work the tuner is doing.👍🏻 I was using a dipole for CB diagonally strung diagonally down the garden from the upstairs window and I had local contacts 30-40 miles away plus DX.
Paul the cross polarization for this antenna on local CB won't work as well as a vertical since 99% use verticals for both mobile and base, but for DX the polarization is random and either will work fine. The only difference is the radiation pattern of each antenna which will have a large effect on where your signal goes.
Great video. I have to ask though. Do ham radio operators use their radios anymore for anything other than testing how well the system performs? It seems like all the videos are on how to optimize them and radio checks. This is coming from an amateur CB user 30 years ago. Thanks.
Thanks, I think the hobby for a lot of HAMS these days is about the technical aspects and practicing communications techniques rather than just chatting. I mean let's face it, we can easily talk online these days so you don't NEED ham radio for talking! That being said there's still a lot of chatter on the airwaves and it's always nice to have a real conversation with another HAM on the other side of the world or just down the road! I still find it almost magical who can just pop up from nowhere, there's a LOT of people listening!
The RU-vid videos lean toward technical help, product reviews, etc. There are other things hams do that don't show up as much on RU-vid such as contesting or DXing (long distance communication).
Thanks for the frequent videos. I find I'm really liking the amateur radio ones. With your call sign, M6JKA you frequently say Mexico and on other occassions Mike. Is Mexico replacing Mike in the international phonetic alphabet? As for your solar powered trailer, can we expect any radio expeditions? I'm hoping you're going to do some slow scan TV at some point. (If you do you're going to need a M6JKA test card!)
I typically TRY the official NATO alphabet first, and then switch if someone is having issues hearing me. I don't think there's anything wrong with this, but some crusty fuckers really hate it.
Hi Andy, how long would it take to do the basic ham course for a total begginer. I have just got the basic beginners book and have been watching your vlog
Keep faffing Andy ..I'll order that tuner for my icom 705. Need a decent battery for my rig so why don't u market one and we'll buy them. Good vid as ever 73
I look at radio this way yes you can pick up a phone and chat straight away or use social media but with radio it's not that easy as Andy tried to take to someone in the states its more of a challenge some days the bands can be dead and on the other hand it can be mental
My dad had a 52 foot silver rod cb airial and got to iceland from north east england on a good day his mates hated him for bleed though different classes i know but i thought it to be impressive
Doddgydd I would use h bombs to make contacts 500 watts ok but all you really need is 600 not 1500watts legal limit . if you know the decibel math 600 watts is perfect qrp is fun but you need conditions ! Great video Andy , John Boy Utah, bought sigma comm. 360 that's all I have room for wish me luck I,have been hearing mixed reviews! Chow 🇺🇸🇺🇸from across the pond.
MASSIVE ANTENNA? 🤣😂 now that’s Funny right there.Only one Half of my G5RV is longer than that and my 160 meter Half Sloper is longer and it’s not very long.😱🤪
Why talk to random people on the airways? Same reason we talk random people on the internet, and even before the internet when it all just Dial up forums. Like-minded people just want to chat.
