GMRS anyone??

As many of you know the license fee for GMRS is going down to $35 for a 10 year period. Pasco county has many GMRS licensees out there. Alot of us have an Amateur radio license and a GMRS license. They operate on 462MHZ, and there are repeaters. Most of the ham gear with 440 Mhz in it can be modified for GMRS use…… yeah yeah yeah…not part 90 whatever accepted. I do not care!  You want to buy a GMRS radio go ahead no one stopping you.

The price is right $3.50 a year gets up 22 channels simples and 8 of them can be used for repeater.

In Pasco County there are a couple of repeaters up and running.

More information can be found at http://pascogmrs.us

live long and prosper

                                                                   pascoGMRS.us

WinLink info

Winlink Global Radio Email…

…is a network of amateur radio and authorized government-licensed stations that provides worldwide radio email using radio pathways where the internet is not present. The system is built, operated and administered entirely by licensed “Ham” volunteers. It supports email with attachments, position reporting, weather and information bulletins, and is well-known for its role in interoperable emergency and disaster relief communications. It is capable of operating completely without the internet–automatically–using smart-network radio relays. Licensed Winlink operators/stations use both amateur radio and government radio frequencies worldwide. Support for the system is provided by the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, Inc., a US 501(c)(3) non-profit, public-benefit entity. Winlink Global Radio Email®️ is a US registered trademark of the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, Inc.

For more information please check out their website  https://winlink.org/

G.C.A.R.C. Field Day plans

Lets get the party started for this year. Check back here for the latest plans on Field Day.

—-Other FD news——

ARRL to Extend Field Day Rule Waivers from 2020, Add Class D and E Power Limit

02/10/2021The COVID-19 pandemic-modified ARRL Field Day rules from 2020 will continue this June with the addition of a power limit imposed on Class D (Home Stations) and Class E (Home Stations-Emergency Power) participants. The news from the ARRL Board’s Programs and Services Committee comes as many clubs and groups are starting preparations for Field Day in earnest. Field Day 2021 will take place June 26 – 27.

 

“This early decision should alleviate any hesitancy that radio clubs and individual Field Day participants may have with their planning for the event,” said ARRL Contest Program Manager Paul Bourque, N1SFE.

For Field Day 2021:

  • Class D stations may work all other Field Day stations, including other Class D stations, for points. This year, however, Class D and Class E stations will be limited to 150 W PEP output.
  • An aggregate club score will be published — just as it was done last year. The aggregate score will be a sum of all individual entries that attributed their score to that of a specific club.

ARRL Field Day is one of the biggest events on the amateur radio calendar. Last summer, a record 10,213 entries were received.

“With the greater flexibility afforded by the rules waivers, individuals and groups will still be able to participate in Field Day, while still staying within any public health recommendations and/or requirements,” Bourque said.

The preferred method of submitting entries after Field Day is via the web applet. The ARRL Field Day rules include instructions on how to submit entries, which must be submitted or postmarked by Tuesday, July 27, 2021.

The ARRL Field Day web page contains for complete rules and entry forms, as well as any updated information as it becomes available. Join the ARRL Field Day Facebook page.

A 6 meter cage dipole using window line.

Here is a good article on 6m dipole.

ALL credit for this goes to Kevin Loughin . Watch his video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBdcyQvu3jM

 

http://kb9rlw.blogspot.com/2021/03/a-6-meter-cage-dipole-using-window-line.html

 

It’s springtime here, that time of year where 6 meters occasionally opens up. And I need a decent 6 meter antenna. I’d love a beam, but I live in an RV and have very limited space. So a dipole it is.

 

 

I’ve long been aware of cage dipoles and their broader bandwidth verses a regular dipole. So I thought up a way to make a simple four wire cage dipole for 50 MHz. Here is the design.

 

 

(Click on image for full size, then right-click on it to download.)
In order to test the increase in bandwidth, I initially just put a singe wire on each leg and swept it with my Blue VNA.

(single wire dipole being measured)

And here is the sweep of the single wire dipole, showing a bandwidth of 2.6 MHz between the 2:1 points. One interesting point I noticed. Modeling and literature all point out that a half wave resonant dipole will have ~74 ohms impedance at it’s resonant frequency. We measured 73.8 ohms, how about that!


Then I finished building the cage and swept it again.


(The cage version being measured.)

Here’s the result. The bandwidth has increased by 77% to 4.6 MHz!

So there we go. The cage design not only increased bandwidth, but also slightly lowered the impedance and SWR at it’s lowest point. Some might wonder why I didn’t trim the antenna to raise the lowest SWR to the center of the band. Well, 99% of my operation on 6 meters is down at the CW/SSB/digital end of the band, so that’s where I wanted the lowest SWR.

Now I’m all ready for those coming 6 meter openings.