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What did you do in the shack today?
- Thread starter CatSnoutSoup
- Start date
Well I looked up the build instructions. I could get this rigged up using a wire and the squid pole without having to invest in a 25’ whip, I already have a 49:1 transformer as well. Although… I have had the parts for the preformer laying around for weeks without having found the time to put it together.
ToddDubya
NES Member
I messed around with my TinySA this morning. I got some attenuators, so I can put up to about 10w into the TinySA without destroying it. Well, 10w before knocking it down with attenuators. I tried measuring my Yaesu HT and only got 2.8w instead of the expected 5w. I have no experience with the TinySA, so I suspect operator error. Meanwhile, I tried measuring the attenuator "gain" on the NanoVNA to make sure it's actually -40dB. I also have no experience with the NanoVNA, so that was also a fail. But I'll figure it out.
I got both of these devices back in October and really haven't messed with them yet. For the price, they do a lot.
I got both of these devices back in October and really haven't messed with them yet. For the price, they do a lot.
ToddDubya
NES Member
I also played with my Xiegu X5105 some more today, and damn if that thing doesn't get good reports. I had a few people give me "59, excellent audio. You sound really good down here". Funny thing was I really wasn't hearing people too well today. I wait until my final to tell the other person I'm running 5w so they don't overcompensate.
I meant to inspect the wires, but the wind and snow were blasting pretty hard. I'm sure the SSB contest wasn't doing me any favors. I wish I could have remembered how to turn on the filtering.
It's too bad the audio is so bad on that radio. I wish it was just the speaker, but even with headphones or an external speaker it sounds equally bad. Otherwise I have been very pleasantly surprised with its performance.
I meant to inspect the wires, but the wind and snow were blasting pretty hard. I'm sure the SSB contest wasn't doing me any favors. I wish I could have remembered how to turn on the filtering.
It's too bad the audio is so bad on that radio. I wish it was just the speaker, but even with headphones or an external speaker it sounds equally bad. Otherwise I have been very pleasantly surprised with its performance.
ToddDubya
NES Member
Okay, I'm playing around with the TinySA a little more. I'm not sure this is really doing what I want. It doesn't seem to care what I put in for attenuation. But that aside, here's a shot of my Baofeng UV5R on the fundamental and first harmonic. You can see the first harmonic is about 47dB below the fundamental. FCC says second harmonic must be at least 40dB below the fundamental.
Switching to the other (higher frequency) port, you can see in the 70cm band there's a spike at the third harmonic about 25dB down from the fundamental. Not great, but FCC says 3rd harmonic and up must be 20dB or more below the fundamental.
For comparison, I got just about same thing with my Yaesu FT-70d, maybe a few dB better.
This isn't exactly scientific, but it's a decent indicator that my UV5R isn't exactly the spurious emission bandit some people claim them to be. I'll have to come back and correct this if I find out I botched up the measurements. I really can't make sense of the dBs. If I'm putting 5w into a 40dB attenuator, I should be getting -3dB. I measured the attenuator on the NanoVNA and it's close to 40dB.
Way to spend a Saturday night, Poindexter.
Switching to the other (higher frequency) port, you can see in the 70cm band there's a spike at the third harmonic about 25dB down from the fundamental. Not great, but FCC says 3rd harmonic and up must be 20dB or more below the fundamental.
For comparison, I got just about same thing with my Yaesu FT-70d, maybe a few dB better.
This isn't exactly scientific, but it's a decent indicator that my UV5R isn't exactly the spurious emission bandit some people claim them to be. I'll have to come back and correct this if I find out I botched up the measurements. I really can't make sense of the dBs. If I'm putting 5w into a 40dB attenuator, I should be getting -3dB. I measured the attenuator on the NanoVNA and it's close to 40dB.
Way to spend a Saturday night, Poindexter.
CatSnoutSoup
NES Member
I love busting a pile up!
9N7AA in the log.
P.S.> If you are on now he is at 21.434 MHz in the contest.
9N7AA in the log.
P.S.> If you are on now he is at 21.434 MHz in the contest.
PistolShooter
NES Member
I’ve been looking at setting up a 100W POTA kit. Most likely going to use a Yaesu Ft891, trying to decide what to get for a battery, probably around a 20 Ah. I have plenty of antennas from my QRP kit that I take when I air travel for work.
Also finally ordered an arborist slingshot setup to hopefully get my dipole antenna up a lot higher at my QTH.
Also finally ordered an arborist slingshot setup to hopefully get my dipole antenna up a lot higher at my QTH.
ToddDubya
NES Member
I've used a 12Ah Bioenno a lot in the field and it lasts a long time, 20 should be plenty. Beware the cheaper brands. A lot of them don't have all of the protections they claim to have. There are guys who do tear-down videos. There's a lot of energy in these batteries.
For sizing, check out this calculator. Click here to download the spreadsheet (Rev 1 updated Feb 1, 23).
PistolShooter
NES Member
I have a 4.5 Bioenno I used with my Icom 705, agree on buy quality. I’ve done lots of custom battery development for the day job, not worth the risk of cheap batteries. Need to head up to HRO in Salem and grab one this week. I think I’m going to do a custom build out in a Pelican case, no penetrations to the case but easy to deploy and connect once you open it up.
