Need Help Setting Up Ground Plane Antena

[JohnBrowning]

I am a first time home owner and can finaly set up a two radio station at my home. I am needing some supplies and do not know were to shop for them. I have an Antron 99 antena I bought 10 year ago. I am need os the following:

1)Plates to mount to my interior and exterior wall like a cable guy would use but it must have SO239 conectors.

2)Quality Coax 50' to 100' lengths. I want high grade coax but do not need Heliax.

3)Looking for good priceing on switching style power supply in the 30Amp to 60Amp range.

Thanks Guys!!!

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by JohnBrowning:
1)Plates to mount to my interior and exterior wall like a cable guy would use but it must have SO239 conectors.

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If you can't find these ready-made, just get a plastic blank wallplate and an SO239 feedthrough and drill the approprate size hole in it.

 

[Chris142]

Radio shack has RG8 in rolls. I "think" they are 50ft rolls.They also have the smaller stuff (rg58?)

I bet your local truckstop radio store would have or be able to order you coax in long lengths. Most have belden coax.

 

[k1xv]

Go to www.radioworks.com

Call Jim at Radioworks. He is a friendly and knowledgable guy.

 

[94MaxGXE]

Please, dont use Raido Shack coax. It's junk, always has been, always will be.
Try that RaidoWorks or some place like CableX-Perts and buy some better coax like the CXP1318FX shown on that link.
Dont bother to use PL259's to go through the wall! Each connector provides signal loss. (Not to metion just another connector to go bad and screw up your SWR.) Just run the coax through the wall and dress it with plates if you wish. Two pl259's, one at the antenna, one at the radio.
Don't forget that this is a ground plane antenna and it needs to be grounded! An 8 foot ground rod, with the thickest copper wire you can get your hands on, should connect to the base of the antenna.
A good power supply is a must, but I dont understand why you need a 30-60 amp supply. Got a Texas Star kicker or somthing else in mind? 15-20 amps should be good for any legal 11 meter CB.
Ham swaps are good places to pick up coax and power supplies. Find a SWAP in your area by going to ARRL Click on HAMFESTS at the top left of the page, choose your state, and get a list of all the ham/computer type swaps in your area.
Take care, have fun with the CB, become a HAM and and enjoy some real radio! KB8TAV

 

[JohnBrowning]

94MaxGXE, No I am not running a linear amplifer or even better a nice mosfet or ceramic tubed amp either.I happen to own a copy of the ARRL Handbook and read it from time to time. I am not currently lic. amature but plan on working on it this winter. I know I am going to need the more powerful power supply sonner or latter might as well buy it once instead of twice!I was looking at RF Parts switching power supply with built in speaker. I am not the type to clip limiters, over modulate, over bias transitors, do super swing mods etc... I am a big fan of speech compression and rf compression properly applied. Not everyone on 11 meter is a ignorant agitator or free bander. Some of us like to gut on SSB and talk about tea and biscuits. I do have some reservations about the 4 watt legal limit but would not resort to useing a RF amplifer.

I have always had to operate from a mobile platform so I am new to residential antena setup. I also do not know were the best prices are. I tried useing HRO's web site and it is not very user friendly.

I used to work on a variety of RF equipment a long time ago when I was aprenticeing for an electronic repair shop. I droped that and decided to go to college instead. I had the opertunity to work on Ten-Tec, Tram, Yeasu(sp),Kenwood,Standard,JRC,Ranger,Uniden,President,Drake,Siltronix's etc...... I have an idea of what I think I want and I want to work towards it. It has been my experince that a lot of amature radio operators end up buying twice because they did not know what they wanted. I like to plan for expansion. I want a power supply that has low ripple and will be able to power more then one radio in the future.

I think it would be foolish to use an amplifer from a fixed postion illegaly for illegal and deviant behavoir. I think mobile would be a better way to go if some one wanted to do that. I also have a neighbor Amature with what appears to be an antena farm in his back yard three houses down. I think it would be even dumber to make him mad less I incur the wrath of the FCC!

I know that it is rare to find 11 meter operators that do not swear, dead key, transmitt music etc... I just enjoy talking. For what it is worth I have encourged many people to get their Amature lic. I just have not made time to do it myself. I have actualy loaned my ARRL handbook to my cousin who is a lic. amature! I got him started buy giveing him a good antena setup and tuneing his swr properly. Once he found out how far he could talk on his radio shack CB radio and a nice mobile set up he was hooked. Now he has his Tech-No Code and I think he upgraded. Last I checked he was big on 2 meter adn 440MHZ.

Everyone thanks I appreciate all the information.

P.S. I am going to be very disapointed if ever I find out you are running a 12 Volt linear amp from your home with so many great Amature mosfet and high quality tube amps avialeable. Not to mention every copy of the ARRL Handbook I have seen has the plans for a legal limit amp in back.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I wanted to thank all you guys for the advice. I ordered my coax and conectors from Radio Works on tuesday and have the coax and 200 foot Hank of Dacron! I am considering some of their line isolators and 1:1 bulan for an atic dipole to back up my A-99.

I ordered a Samlex 1223 23 Amp cont. 25 Amp peak power supply. Universal Radio had them for $89+ $4.95 for shipping no tax at all!!!I took the chance on the switching supply. It has a 3 year warranty and seems to be excellent on all bands except 180 and 60. I almost went with the Alinco SS330 switching power supply. I think that the Samlex will power my 2amp CB just fine.

I purchased a ground rod for my RF ground. I am going to place my station on the ground floor. My antena is going to be about 35 feet up from the ground to the feed point. It is about 20 feet from my house and about 40 feet from the "shack".

I am sorry if I got a bit short. I am just tired of a lot not all "Amatuers" acting like they have a corn cob stuck some place!! They are normaly friendly until they you mention CB. Then they usualy get condesending. I realize that their are a lot of bad apples out their but not all of them are on CB. Last I checked a lot of Hams were getting busted. Last time I checked most of them were General class or higher!! Most would have you think that it is all the no-code tech's but the FCC reports I see at ARRL do not bear this out!

So again I apoligise I got deffensive.

P.S. While I am unemployeed and looking for a new job I am thinking about learning code with one of the ARRL code courses and studying for my General class lisc. I know I will never use the code and have no intentions of ever useing packet or clover or Rtty. I like voice on AM,FM, and SSB but it would be nice to be able to paint on a bigger canvas!!

[ December 18, 2004, 10:51 PM: Message edited by: JohnBrowning ]

 

[JohnBrowning]

Quick update. My power supply shiped today. Total weight for the shipment is 4.9 lbs. I should have it by Dec. 20th. I can not wait!!! I will probably not be on the air until after the holidays but I am still excited. I went right from my parents house to dorms to apt. and am now a home owner. I have had this A-99 for at least 10 years collecting dust in various storage facilitys! I can not wait to work all the new contacts on SSB that I have been missing on mobile set ups!!!

 

[k1xv]

John:

Glad that Radio Works was able to help. Good luck on the General. Learning code at 5 wpm really isn't all that bad these days with the PC code learning programs.

A good website for practice exams is www.aa9pw.com

And I don't mind CBers. Way back when the path to an amateur radio ticket usually started with short wave listening. Today, it usually is people who got interested in RF through CB.

73 John from K1XV

 

[Propflux01]

quote:

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Originally posted by JohnBrowning:

I am sorry if I got a bit short. I am just tired of a lot not all "Amatuers" acting like they have a corn cob stuck some place!! They are normaly friendly until they you mention CB. Then they usualy get condesending. I realize that their are a lot of bad apples out their but not all of them are on CB. Last I checked a lot of Hams were getting busted. Last time I checked most of them were General class or higher!!

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You have to keep in mind, that those Hams that get 'condesending' usually are older ones, that remember the FCC taking the 'Ham' freqs from the 10/11 meter band back in the 70's and giving it to the free band CB'ers ( the additions of channels 24-40). back in that day, those freqs were highly cherished and used by Hams in quite a large number. only to get them removed and get Slang, cussing overmodulating CB'ers on them, that bled into the remaining 10 meter bands. Yes, there are 'Bad Pork' in the Amateur community, the usual 10% that floods every facet in life, but you have to admit, with linear, echoboxes, power mikes, and hog-calls for lot-lizards going on, CB is a much-left-to-be-desired field. I am a licensed Ham, and have been for quite some time. However, I do not condone Hams crossing the line any more than a 'Mud Duck' does in the free bands. I think, however, you will find if you become a Ham, even if you do not use the Tddy, or rtty, or even code ( which I still don't think should be a requirement!!) you will generally find much better quality in the hobby.

 

[Ugly3]

You are bringing back a lot of memories. I had a Cobra 1000 GTL (stock) hooked up to a 5/8 wave omni ground plane the top of which was at 60 feet and fully grounded.

I could "get out" like a champ. 10 miles was solid as stone, 20 miles was not unusual at all.

There were a bunch of us that would talk well into the night and there was no cussing and fussing at all, just a real pleasure.

Enjoy your new set up!

 

[JohnBrowning]

Tim H., I agree with you that I would enjoy my hobby moe if lisc.!! I will freely admit that Citizen Band has become turned into a real trash can! I preey much avoid AM most times unless I am meeting someone their in the day time or if they do not have SSB.

Their is more trash on AM then SSB. I guess Iam lucky in some ways. I first talked on a CB when a lisc. was required and nets were common. My first radio was a 23Ch Pace that my grandfather gave me.

I rediscovered CB in the 1990's and was taught most of what I know in an electronic repair shop. My friends tend to be 10-30 years older then me in genral. I have never had much in common with people my own age.

Down south I was lucky enough to have a wounderful CB enviroment. Everyone knew who you were and they would put you in your place quickly if you steeped out of line. The FCC was often used to take care of trouble makers!! Many were also amatures and so the same type of respect and comunity was fostered.

I was taught early on that nosie toys, super swing mods, over modulation etc.... had no place in CB. I am probably one of the few CB'ers out their that is not an electronics student or amature that knows how to set modulation with a scope! I also use a signal generator, atunator, freq. counter to set up my rig. I have played around with voice compression and RF clipping as well.

I had no idea how badly things were in CB until I moved from Georgia to Michigan.

I have to admit that part of my reluctance to get lisc. is that I trully resent that I have to learn a dead launge like Morse Code!! I already have a working knoldge of it at a very basic level because our navigational aids in avaition are identified in morse code. It is the principal of it! To me it is as idiotic as being forced to learn latin in order to get a driveing liscense. I am sure that their are more people trained in latin then in code and it still is wrong!

P.S. As a teenager I would pass up drinking for a T-Hunts any time! We often had T-Hunts. We did not allow digital diretion finding equipment.

 

[94MaxGXE]

JohnBrowning, I apologise if I sounded condesending. That first post, I simply thought you were some "kid" setting up his first base antenna. Wanted to steer you away form bad coax, and qusetion why you would need more power supply than you would need.
My father and I have enjoyed CB, then amature radio, for many years, without ever needing a linear amp.
Enjoy the hobby,
Take Care, KB8TAV