Just over a month until I depart on a 30 day, 10,000+ km cross Canada trip. This is the first of a couple of updates before my departure day. I'm planning on activating over 70 POTA parks, including quite a few that have never been activated yet. If you chase parks you can follow me on POTA Spots during the trip and catch a few new ones.
Jim VE3ULC, and I spent Monday afternoon analyzing some antenna systems to make sure they were acceptable and usable on the new mounts. It took a little bit of tweaking but all three of them look really good now.
First up was my 40m Hamstick that I plan on using on the rear antenna mount, at night, for my WSPR station. I'm not planning on using APRS on the trip, as there are currently huge holes in the Canadian APRS coverage map. Friends and family can log into the WSPR Page each evening and see where I have made it to.
The 40m hamstick was ok, but we still ended up trimming about 1" off the whip and it came down to 1.1:1 SWR, which is very acceptable.
I initially tried four 17' radials with the hamstick, but found that when I used just two radials you couldn't see the difference.
We also had a look at my Slidewinder coil, that I have never used before, and set it up as it will be used on
Lastly, we measured and cut the wire for a new 40m EFHW antenna. This will be used with my SOTABeams Tactical-Mini Mast. After trimming it, the EFHW tuned up on all bands, 40m through 10m, with no issues at all.
Later this week I have to start booking provincial and national park camping sites to make sure I have a place to sleep each night. Next Monday we will be removing the canopy from my truck and re-sealing it to make it water tight. At the moment it leaks in heavy rain, and I need to keep my sleeping bag and the rest of my equipment nice and dry.
This trip I will not have access to wifi on a regular basis, unlike the other trips I have done, so I will update the page when I can.
Stay Safe Out There!!
No comments:
Post a Comment