[amsat-bb] Re: Antennas For AO-7 Mode A

[George Henry]

A loop for 10 meters is 8 feet (app. 2.4 meters) on each side - totally 
impractical for hand-held use.  I have had some success using a 10 meter mobile 
whip on a mag mount on the car, and even better luck using 2 mobile whips in a 
horizontal dipole configuration at the top of a 10-foot (3M) mast, rotated by 
hand for the best signal.

If you wanted to get really creative, you could use 4 whips, crossed at 90 
degrees, and add a proper phasing cable between them to make a turnstile, but 
that's a lot of stuff to lug around with you, and getting really far from your 
objective of hand-held.

Otherwise, your only option for something remotely hand-holdable for HF is some 
type of active antenna, such as the MFJ-1020C.



George, KA3HSW




----- Original Message ----
> From: B J <va6bmj at gmail.com>
> To: amsat-bb <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
> Sent: Sun, October 23, 2011 11:07:36 PM
> Subject: [amsat-bb] Antennas For AO-7 Mode A
> 
> I'm looking for a suitable antenna that I can use to operate over AO-7  in
> mode A .  The main requirement that it be hand-held.
> 
> I've  looked on the Internet and, so far, I haven't found any  off-the-shelf
> antennas.  I did, however, find several websites that have  instructions for
> home-brew designs but none were specifically for mode  A.
> 
> One possibility that occurred to me is to combine 2 different types,  such as
> an eggbeater for 2 m and a hand-held HF loop for 10 m.  One  drawback that I
> see for this arrangement is that it might be too big or too  heavy for it to
> be practical as a hand-held unit.
> 
> Does anyone know of  a commercially available mode A antenna suitable for
> hand-held operation or  know of a home-brew design for one?
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> 73s
> 
> Bernhard  VA6BMJ @ DO33FL