1. Is there wire with camoflage insulation? (just kidding!)
I plan on using wire with beige or tan colored insulation. I
think sky blue or grey would provide the wrong contract.
Any ideas on this?

2. The far end of the antenna will be hanging from and in
the branches of a tree. I will only be running 5W (if I'm lucky)
and wonder about the voltage at the end of the wire. Will some
heat shrink provide suitable insulation to prevent corona from
starting the bush on fire? Is there a better idea? I will be
using PTFE (Teflon) insulated wire.

3. I'll be running the wire from inside my suite through
a 1/4 inch hole in the aluminum window frame. I was going
to feed it through a plastic straw to prevent chafing and
possible short circuiting. Any suggestions on the best way
through the hole to prevent any problems?

4. Is there a way to tell if the glass in my windows
has some property that greatly attenuates signals?
I'd ask the management but I don't want to trigger them
into realization that future QRM will probably be
emanating from my 'shack'! I plan to work the world
while remaining invisible to those around me. If asked,
I'll just explain that the wire is an antenna for my short wave
receiver!!!!

This is the first time I've had to use a store bought rig!
Until now I've either had modified surplus or burned out
rigs which I rebuilt. I've always been an advocate of
low power, but real QRP is new to me too -- and I equate
it to the difference between dynamiting ponds and fly fishing!
Time will tell! :-) When I became ill I gave away all my
50+ years accumulation of valuable ham radio equipment,
tools, test equipment, and books -- collectively A.K.A.
"Junk". It's fun starting from scratch -- at least my shack
is not a terrible mess -- YET!

Do folks still mail QSL cards? Or can I settle for emailing
a graphic equivalent of my own design? I've been off the air
for a couple years now and think that things may have changed
while I was out of the picture. This is not a big problem as
printing and using the local buro shouldn't be too much of
a problem. The hundreds of rare QSL's coming into my
mailbox my invite unanticipated curiosity from the
management.

Thanks in advance for any ideas you may have. This
is the first time I've run through a metal window frame or
dropped the wire into and among the branches of a tree.

73

Irv VE6BP
Calgary, AB

Just a hair away from being on the air again!

On 4/22/2012 7:29 PM, Irv Finkleman wrote:
1. Is there wire with camoflage insulation? (just kidding!)
I plan on using wire with beige or tan colored insulation. I
think sky blue or grey would provide the wrong contract.
Any ideas on this?

Dunno.. From what I notice, lighter colors may blend with the
sky at times, but they also reflect light more, which can cause
the wire to stand out more at certain times of the day.


2. The far end of the antenna will be hanging from and in
the branches of a tree. I will only be running 5W (if I'm lucky)
and wonder about the voltage at the end of the wire. Will some
heat shrink provide suitable insulation to prevent corona from
starting the bush on fire? Is there a better idea? I will be
using PTFE (Teflon) insulated wire.

No problem with that.. 5 watts is not enough power to start
anything on fire.. Even 100w will have trouble doing that in
most cases. Only when I was running high power have I noticed
arcing and burning of tree branches touching the ends of antennas.
You can use almost anything as an insulator and should have no
problems with QRP.


3. I'll be running the wire from inside my suite through
a 1/4 inch hole in the aluminum window frame. I was going
to feed it through a plastic straw to prevent chafing and
possible short circuiting. Any suggestions on the best way
through the hole to prevent any problems?

I suppose that would work ok.. or maybe run and melt some thin
heat shrink tubing at that point..


4. Is there a way to tell if the glass in my windows
has some property that greatly attenuates signals?
I'd ask the management but I don't want to trigger them
into realization that future QRM will probably be
emanating from my 'shack'! I plan to work the world
while remaining invisible to those around me. If asked,
I'll just explain that the wire is an antenna for my short wave
receiver!!!!

Glass is fairly RF invisible I think.. Should be no issue.


This is the first time I've had to use a store bought rig!
Until now I've either had modified surplus or burned out
rigs which I rebuilt. I've always been an advocate of
low power, but real QRP is new to me too -- and I equate
it to the difference between dynamiting ponds and fly fishing!
Time will tell! :-) When I became ill I gave away all my
50+ years accumulation of valuable ham radio equipment,
tools, test equipment, and books -- collectively A.K.A.
"Junk". It's fun starting from scratch -- at least my shack
is not a terrible mess -- YET!

Low power can do fine if the antenna is decent.


Do folks still mail QSL cards? Or can I settle for emailing
a graphic equivalent of my own design? I've been off the air
for a couple years now and think that things may have changed
while I was out of the picture. This is not a big problem as
printing and using the local buro shouldn't be too much of
a problem. The hundreds of rare QSL's coming into my
mailbox my invite unanticipated curiosity from the
management.

I don't do QSL cards myself.. In fact, I've never sent anyone a
QSL card ever.. And I don't need any to send me one, but of course
still many do.. The CW contacts are much more likely to generate
QSL cards than the typical phone jabber..
The way I look at it, is I know I worked the people.. I don't
need paper proof of it.. :/
Maybe you could get a PO box, and assign it as your new mail
address, and have someone check the mail every once in a while.

"NM5K" wrote in message
...
On 4/22/2012 7:29 PM, Irv Finkleman wrote:
1. Is there wire with camoflage insulation? (just kidding!)
I plan on using wire with beige or tan colored insulation. I
think sky blue or grey would provide the wrong contract.
Any ideas on this?

Dunno.. From what I notice, lighter colors may blend with the
sky at times, but they also reflect light more, which can cause
the wire to stand out more at certain times of the day.

I've considered that. The stretch from my window to where the
wire will enter the tree is such that there will be no one below, and
anyone walking in the area and looking up will be looking mainly
toward the building which is various shades of brown. The chance
of anyone seeing the wire against the sky is very small if at all. I'll try
that
light brown or beige first but it will be easy to change. The only
real time involved has been in planning what to do.


2. The far end of the antenna will be hanging from and in
the branches of a tree. I will only be running 5W (if I'm lucky)
and wonder about the voltage at the end of the wire. Will some
heat shrink provide suitable insulation to prevent corona from
starting the bush on fire? Is there a better idea? I will be
using PTFE (Teflon) insulated wire.

No problem with that.. 5 watts is not enough power to start
anything on fire.. Even 100w will have trouble doing that in
most cases. Only when I was running high power have I noticed
arcing and burning of tree branches touching the ends of antennas.
You can use almost anything as an insulator and should have no
problems with QRP.

I sort of figured that, but your confirmation is indeed welcome. In
fact, Mark, I'm really pleased to see your reply because I've always
enjoyed your opinions and advice on antennas.


3. I'll be running the wire from inside my suite through
a 1/4 inch hole in the aluminum window frame. I was going
to feed it through a plastic straw to prevent chafing and
possible short circuiting. Any suggestions on the best way
through the hole to prevent any problems?

I suppose that would work ok.. or maybe run and melt some thin
heat shrink tubing at that point..


Until something better comes along, reinforcing the wire with some
heat shrink tubing, and running it through a heavy soda straw should
do the trick -- in fact now that I think of it, you can buy heavy straws
for kids and I'll pick one up tomorrow.


4. Is there a way to tell if the glass in my windows
has some property that greatly attenuates signals?
I'd ask the management but I don't want to trigger them
into realization that future QRM will probably be
emanating from my 'shack'! I plan to work the world
while remaining invisible to those around me. If asked,
I'll just explain that the wire is an antenna for my short wave
receiver!!!!

Glass is fairly RF invisible I think.. Should be no issue.

I'm still not sure on that either -- I've heard that leaded glass
can be a problem, but I'm not even sure what kind of glass is
in these windows. As it is, I'm not pushing RF through the
windows, but have considered a small magnetic loop located
inside, in which case I'd like to know.

This is the first time I've had to use a store bought rig!
Until now I've either had modified surplus or burned out
rigs which I rebuilt. I've always been an advocate of
low power, but real QRP is new to me too -- and I equate
it to the difference between dynamiting ponds and fly fishing!
Time will tell! :-) When I became ill I gave away all my
50+ years accumulation of valuable ham radio equipment,
tools, test equipment, and books -- collectively A.K.A.
"Junk". It's fun starting from scratch -- at least my shack
is not a terrible mess -- YET!

Low power can do fine if the antenna is decent.

I have a chum who was running an FT-101 here in town
through a G5RV 3 feet or so above his roof. He was one of
the top DXers in town. One day he suggested that things weren't
quite right so I went over to have a look. I told him to tune up
whilie I watched. He went through the correct tuneup procedure
as per the book, but never readjusted the Carrier Level adjustment
when he began operating. I had him repeat the procedure and
the same thing again! It turned out that the Manual doesn't really
tell you what to do beyone the tuning point so he left things as
is, and worked mucho countries running only 15 watts! It
goes to show what lower power can do, and also that what you
don't know won't hurt you!!! Once, in my shack, I set my rig
on 20m with about 5 watts of output. I made a call, and got
an immediate answer from a fellow who I had elmered back
in the early 70's!!!! We'd lost touch for all those years and had
been looking for each other. I was here in Calgary, he was down
in Silicon Valley!!


Do folks still mail QSL cards? Or can I settle for emailing
a graphic equivalent of my own design? I've been off the air
for a couple years now and think that things may have changed
while I was out of the picture. This is not a big problem as
printing and using the local buro shouldn't be too much of
a problem. The hundreds of rare QSL's coming into my
mailbox my invite unanticipated curiosity from the
management.

I don't do QSL cards myself.. In fact, I've never sent anyone a
QSL card ever.. And I don't need any to send me one, but of course
still many do.. The CW contacts are much more likely to generate
QSL cards than the typical phone jabber..
The way I look at it, is I know I worked the people.. I don't
need paper proof of it.. :/
Maybe you could get a PO box, and assign it as your new mail
address, and have someone check the mail every once in a while.

I seldom QSL'ed unless requested, but I do a lot of CW work
(almost as much as phone) I'll play it by ear in the meantime.
One sad thing about QSLing -- when I got ill, my brother and
sister had a big sale and sold a lot of ham stuff (the rest I donated
to the local ham club). Some stuff that I would like to have kept
disappeared -- whether sold or not I don't know and never will,
but my collection of QSL cards going back to 1958 and over
four callsigns went somewhere -- my logbooks too! Such is
life, but I'm just lucky to be able to start life over again and have
the fun of doing it! This is really net -- back to basics and
climbing the ladder again! At least I never had DXCC to lose!

Thanks again for your thought provoking and sage
reply.Much appreciated!

Irv VE6BP

On Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:29:28 -0600, "Irv Finkleman"
wrote:

1. Is there wire with camoflage insulation? (just kidding!)

No, but you can easily dye vinyl or PVC insulation in whatever colors
you find useful. I once built a wire striping machine, that produced
a red and white "candy cane" pattern. Please don't ask why.

I plan on using wire with beige or tan colored insulation. I
think sky blue or grey would provide the wrong contract.

I think you mean contrast, not contract.

There are vendors that sell "stealth" antenna wire. It has a copper
plated steel core wire and clear insulation. Or, just the copperweld
wire, and no insulation.
http://www.universal-radio.com/CAtalog/cable/polystealth.html
http://fushicopperweld.com/en/bimetallics.html

Any suggestions on the best way
through the hole to prevent any problems?

If you drill through the wall, drill at a slight angle so that water
will drain out of the wall, rather than into the wall. Use PVC
electrical conduit parts for the feedthrough.

4. Is there a way to tell if the glass in my windows
has some property that greatly attenuates signals?

Yes. Read the label on the window. If it says Low-E glass, it's
probably coated with Titanium Nitride to reflect infrared. TiN is
about 40 ohms per square, which is highly lossy at RF. You can test
it with a cell phone. Compare the signal strength on both sides of
the window. If there's a drastic drop in level through the window,
you have Low-E glass. Note that all new construction and remodels in
California have required Low-E glass for the last 10 years or so.
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/crud/Low-E-titanium-nitide-glass.pdf

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

"Irv Finkleman" wrote in message
...


snip

... I will only be running 5W (if I'm lucky)
and wonder about the voltage at the end of the wire. Will some
heat shrink provide suitable insulation to prevent corona from
starting the bush on fire? Is there a better idea? I will be
using PTFE (Teflon) insulated wire.

Experience: I built a 10m sleeve dipole from copper pipe and I was
justifiably concerned about voltage at the end where the feedline entered,
so I encased the coaxial feedline in a length of PVC pipe. It acted as a
separator.

This arrangement necessitated making one element larger than planned, so to
accomodate the PVC, but it apparently worked. I never suffered an
arc-through.

Today: If you were to secure the tree-end of your wire entirely within a
length of PVC pipe, you would guarantee a separation of enter PVC wall
thickness here millimeters from anything else. If you then glue some
additional PVC fittings onto this "insulator," you can use them for
mechanical attachment to whatever in the trees. Either that or hang the
PVC from/within tree branches.

Good luck

"Sal"

On 4/22/2012 8:27 PM, Irv Finkleman wrote:
It turned out that the Manual doesn't really
tell you what to do beyone the tuning point so he left things as
is, and worked mucho countries running only 15 watts!

I used to use a little FT-7 transceiver portable quite often,
and it was about a 20w input radio, and did about 10 watts out
on most bands.
Using any decent antenna, I never had any trouble working the
people I wanted to, and this was usually on 40 and 80 meters
using NVIS paths.
I remember one time I was camping out at Lake Amistad near Del Rio,TX.
I rigged up a dipole for 80m, and had it hanging between two short
trees. The antenna was only about 5 ft off the ground it's whole
length. Even with that low antenna, and the appx 10w output on SSB,
I was still in the S9+ range to most of the various people I was
talking to in say San Antonio, Dallas, etc..
For those type conditions, I would generally prefer 100w, but 10w
will usually get it done if need be. Only on the noisier nights
might it be a real issue where the extra power is needed.
These days my portable rig is the 100w Icom 706mk2g. And of course,
I can adjust the output power level to whatever I want.. I think the
minimum it will do is around 5 watts or so.. maybe slightly less..
But unless I'm worried about my battery, I let it rip at 100w..
The battery is rarely an issue as I usually can charge it off the
vehicle every once in a while.

Sal and Jeff, (and Mark)

Thanks for your thoughts and input on my intended
system.

Jeff -- I did mean contrast -- my darned keyboard is
getting old and confused, just like me!

I just want something quick and cheap so I've ruled out
anything like copper clad steel and such. In my years of
antenna experimentation, I would set up the system, test
it, and even though it worked well, could not resist the
temptation to 'fix' it by tearing it down and setting up a
new and supposedly improved MKII version. I never
got much more gain or efficiency, but still had fun.

Just to clear things up on the geometry, the wire will run
out the window horizontally to the tree (about 25 ft) and
then drop vertically (another 25 ft approx) through the
tree to just above the
ground. Sort of an inverted letter "L". It is just a
random wire, and the best I can do at the moment
given my current situation.

The hole through the window frame is too small (1/4 in.)
for conduit but I plan to use a heavy plastic kids drinking
straw, tilted down on the outside, and plugged with some
silicon seal at each end where the wire enters and exits.

That reminds me of a friend who drilled horizontally through
his foundation and drove an 8 foot ground rod through it.
The first rainfall seemed to find it an ideal means of
draining the back yard into his basement and he ended
up with about 4 inches of water in his basement!

Jeff -- thanks for the tip on testing the glass. I can't see
any markings on it, but the test is quick and simple and
will soon let me know if I want to follow up with antennas
inside the window. I may even try loading the window
frame (aluminum, 5 ft x 5 ft (approx)) using a handy
sheet metal screw for the connection.

Sal -- I've built a number of monoband sleeve dipoles by
simply sliding back the braid on the coax. They were always
great performers, but in this case I think they might be
too obvious -- stealth is the primary concern here.

A reminder -- the ground system will be tuned counterpoise
wires running along the wall inside my apartment. I have an
MFJ-1623 tuner which will handle tuning the antenna and
the counterpoise in a very nice compact arrangement with
only one meter to watch!

Mark, NM5K has already calmed my concerns re corona and
a reenactment of the burning bush bit, however I will
cover the last few inches of the dangling portion with
some heat shrink tubing, A small loop in the end will
allow me to fasten the end with a plastic cable tie.

I'm really having fun with the planning stage -- with all
this taken care of beforehand I will hopefully be up and
on the air tomorrow. Only one factor can hold me back,
and that is that the sale of my condo concludes tomorrow,
and at the same time we have a very much contested
Provincial election -- the equivalent of your state
elections. In between I hope to gather the
necessary materials and get operational.

Thanks again guys for your trouble and assistance.
It's all food for thought and I appreciate it. I'm really
having fun and don't even have any wire out the window yet!

73

Irv VE6BP

On Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:18:17 -0600, "Irv Finkleman"
wrote:

I just want something quick and cheap so I've ruled out
anything like copper clad steel and such.

Will your 25ft span of copper wire support a few birds? If not,
please reconsider copperweld.

Just to clear things up on the geometry, the wire will run
out the window horizontally to the tree (about 25 ft) and
then drop vertically (another 25 ft approx) through the
tree to just above the
ground. Sort of an inverted letter "L". It is just a
random wire, and the best I can do at the moment
given my current situation.

Do you have an antenna tuner? The FT-817ND does not have a built in
antenna tuner. You're going to need one with your random wire and
random configuration.

The hole through the window frame is too small (1/4 in.)
for conduit but I plan to use a heavy plastic kids drinking
straw, tilted down on the outside, and plugged with some
silicon seal at each end where the wire enters and exits.

Ummm... is this an existing hole are you going to drill a new hole?
The modern windows that I've seen have the glass extend almost to the
edge of the frame with only a sheet rubber spacer in between. You're
highly likely to drill through the glass if you decide to drill the
frame.

I may even try loading the window
frame (aluminum, 5 ft x 5 ft (approx)) using a handy
sheet metal screw for the connection.

With 5 watts, that might work. Forget about building a magnetically
coupled loop. You would need to split the frame at some point, and
install a variable capacitor. That's probably not going to happen.

If your window proves to be uncoated glass (unlikely), you might
consider two squares of aluminum foil on both sides of the window to
couple through the RF via a ladder line. You won't get much
capacitance so it won't work on the lower frequencies, but should be
tolerable for the higher bands.

A reminder -- the ground system will be tuned counterpoise
wires running along the wall inside my apartment. I have an
MFJ-1623 tuner which will handle tuning the antenna and
the counterpoise in a very nice compact arrangement with
only one meter to watch!

Good, you have a tuner. However, that's designed specifically to
handle a 12ft balcony mount HF antenna. I don't know what it will do
with a longer antenna. Looking at the schematic:
http://www.mfjenterprises.com/pdffiles/MFJ-1623.pdf
it seems to be a crude L match, which isn't going to match every
combination of reactance and frequency. The meter does NOT indicate
VSWR, so you really won't know if the tuner is effective. My
guess(tm) is you're going to purchasing a more elaborate antenna
tuner, a VSWR meter, or using a 12ft piece of wire.

I once used a large sheet of WELDED chicken wire under the carpet for
a "ground". It has to be welded to prevent the galvanizing from
forming diodes. It sorta worked but nobody wanted the lumpy carpet.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:28:20 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:29:28 -0600, "Irv Finkleman" wrote:

4. Is there a way to tell if the glass in my windows
has some property that greatly attenuates signals?

Yes. Read the label on the window. If it says Low-E glass, it's
probably coated with Titanium Nitride to reflect infrared. TiN is
about 40 ohms per square, which is highly lossy at RF. You can test
it with a cell phone. Compare the signal strength on both sides of
the window. If there's a drastic drop in level through the window,
you have Low-E glass. Note that all new construction and remodels in
California have required Low-E glass for the last 10 years or so.
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/crud/Low-E-titanium-nitide-glass.pdf

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This is a recent topic discussed in alt.internet.wireless.

HTH
Jonesy

Hello Irv,

On 2012-04-23, Irv Finkleman wrote:
1. Is there wire with camoflage insulation? (just kidding!)
I plan on using wire with beige or tan colored insulation. I

I do a fair amount of camping with portable operations and have an 80m loop
and end-fed zepp at the house in a residential area with no restrictions.
Actually, the black or copper wire (when it starts turning from shiny) is
the less visible of all, either against sky or trees. My ef zepp is white
with blue stripes and it actually glistens at certain light angles. You
actually have to look to find the loop in the yard and it is 294 ft long,
made of #16 gauge copper clad.

a 1/4 inch hole in the aluminum window frame. I was going
to feed it through a plastic straw to prevent chafing and
possible short circuiting. Any suggestions on the best way
through the hole to prevent any problems?

With a 1/4 inch hole, actually might be less, you could run a very short
piece (a few inches/cm) of r8x, r59, r58, or any of the smaller coax and
simply trim off the shield at the end and use the middle conductor for the
wire. Also, small rubber, teflon, or plastic tubing such as used in model
airplanes might work.

I use parallel pieces of coax with shields soldered together and connect my
open wire feed to the center conductors to get under my metal framed window.
Actually have a strip of wood with holes for this and close the window down
on that strip of wood. Of course in the winter up in AB you have to be more
careful with cold air than we do in Louisiana. hi

Will listen for you on the air. Good luck.

73 ...Edwin, KD5ZLB
__________________________________________________ __________
"Once you have flown, you will walk the earth with your eyes
turned skyward, for there you have been, there you long to
return."-da Vinci http://bellsouthpwp2.net/e/d/edwinljohnson