The YBB Wire Winder system for radials

This page describes the YBB Wire Winder system for radials for amateur radio vertical antennas and why I have come up with this design to make winding up vertical antenna radial wires easy.

I’m in the process of using my 50 foot fibreglass push up mast as a multiband vertical antenna as often referred to these days as a DXCommander. The build of that is detailed here:
https://g1ybb.uk/tmf-3-based-dxcommander-style-vertical-portable-antenna/

But one thing I have already discovered in various tests is the wire radials for the ground plane are a complete pain in the butt to deploy and untangle. If you do not spend some time at pack up taming the wires you are surely going to regret it next time!

My radials are in bunches of 6 soldered into one ring terminal per 6. Six wires really love building birds nests for some reason. Currently I am coiling up each wire and securing it with tape, then putting the set of six into a bag to isolate them from all others. This works but is very time consuming and will fail when raining as the tape won’t stick. Here is one set:
6 radials coiled up
As I have several sets of radials of differing lengths I needed to come up with a better solution to make it faster and easier. After some pondering I have come up with The YBB Wire Winder System for radials. continue reading

The GM3SEK mains filter

I’ve looked at the GM3SEK mains filter several times but nevertaken it any further. My worst noise at home varies with beam heading on HF so I suspect it is being received by the antenna itself and assume filtering the mains would have no effect. But recently I was testing an antenna on 80m and noticed quite a bit of noise from the Honda EU10i generator I have which wasn’t there (as I remember) some years ago on 80 using the EU20i. So I decided I would build a GM3SEK filter to try to stop the generator noise and as a side effect, could see what happens at home!

The starting point is on Ian’s site here:
https://gm3sek.com/2019/10/11/clean-up-your-shack-2019/

continue reading

TMF-3 based DXcommander style vertical portable antenna

This is a build of a TMF-3 based DXcommander style vertical antenna for portable use because at home I just do not have any space for anything on the lower bands. Also, when I did put up an inverted V once for 40m (hell of a job) it induced so much RF into the house it was not a great plan.

The basics of the DXcommander style verticals are well know, I won’t be going into that. This is focused on making use of my TMF-3 50 foot (15 metres) heavy duty fibreglass push up mast that O bought during lockdown, used for a while to support my lightweight 20m moxon but has been doing nothing since.

This video shows the TMF-3 mast and the guying points I have already made for it (excuse wind noise):

continue reading

Contesting information sign for passers by

Most of us that operate portable in any way will no doubt have had interested people come to ask us what what we are up to. My portable operations these days are almost exclusively contesting and single op so I don’t really want to break off a pileup to answer questions so I decided I would make a contesting information sign for passers by answering most of the questions before they ask them! I have found it to be very effective especially when I am tent portable on a mountain summit where there is a fair amount of walker activity. Often when I am in the tent listening around the band before the contest kicks off I can hear one person of a group reading out the card to the rest of the group. It’s been a great help. You may have even seen it in one of the Practical Wireless magazines in the PW 144MHz QRP Contest results write ups.

I printed and laminated it then peg it out with tent pegs from the pound shop between the summit and my tent:
contesting information sign for passers byIt’s survived some pretty hairy and wet weather so far. I also have another one for car portable that I put in one of the windows (doubles as a sun shade in the summer evenings!)

A few people have asked about doing one themselves so I have add below a Word DOC file and DOCX file (both ZIPped up) for you you use as a start point for your own version, you can just change the images and wording a bit to suit. Just needs a few tweaks to make your own contesting information sign for passers by to suit your own situation.

What exactly are we up do.DOC

What exactly are we up do.DOCX

Have fun and spread the good word!

If you found this useful, I’m always up for a coffee…
https://g1ybb.uk/buy-me-a-coffee/

Easy building of a moxon antenna with 4NEC2

As we are still on lockdown and my 50MHz yagi is literally too huge to fit in the garden let alone erect on my lockdown lash-up system I decided I needed to make something smaller to use at home. I didn’t have any aluminium tubing at home long enough to make a small yagi so I decided to make a moxon antenna on the recommendation of a friend. These are very compact and easy to make so it seemed like a plan. I decided on a wire based version as although I have some 12mm tube I could cobble together I didn’t have anything I could get today for the corners. Wire it is. I decided easy building of a moxon antenna with 4NEC2 simulations to find the correct starting point would be a cool project.

I’d already looked around the web and compared the various online moxon calculators and the AC6LA Moxgen program (link) and the Moxgen program seemed to be the best fit for the suggested spreader angles. (Even though I’m not using spreaders as such.) It’s dead easy, just put your desired frequency in and the wire size and click calculate:
Moxgen calculated values for 16AWG wire
That’s it, job done. Almost… continue reading

G1YBB Contest Results 2019

List of G1YBB Contest Results 2019 I have participated in. Where I have had chance to post a report there is a link to that post.

Individual Events
RSGB 144MHz UKAC January 2019
RSGB 432MHz UKAC January 2019
RSGB 50MHz UKAC January 2019
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC January 2019
RSGB 70MHz UKAC January 2019
RSGB 2.3GHz UKAC January 2019
RSGB 10GHz UKAC January 2019
RSGB 144MHz UKAC February 2019
RSGB 432MHz UKAC February 2019
RSGB 50MHz UKAC February 2019
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC February 2019
RSGB 70MHz UKAC February 2019
RSGB 10GHz UKAC February 2019
RSGB March 144/432 (144MHz) 2019
RSGB 144MHz UKAC March 2019
RSGB 432MHz UKAC March 2019
RSGB 50MHz UKAC March 2019
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC March 2019
RSGB 70MHz UKAC March 2019
RSGB 2.3GHz UKAC March 2019
RSGB 10GHz UKAC March 2019
RSGB 144MHz UKAC April 2019
RSGB 432MHz UKAC April 2019
RSGB 50MHz UKAC April 2019
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC April 2019
RSGB 144MHz UKAC May 2019
RSGB 50MHz UKAC May 2019
RSGB 432MHz UKAC May 2019
RSGB 70MHz UKAC May 2019
RSGB 2.3GHz UKAC May 2019
RSGB 144MHz 1st Backpackers
RSGB 144MHz UKAC June 2019
RSGB 144MHz 2nd Backpackers
Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP 2019
RSGB 432MHz UKAC June 2019
RSGB 50MHz UKAC June 2019
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC June 2019
RSGB 70MHz UKAC June 2019
RSGB 2.3GHz UKAC June 2019
RSGB 10GHz UKAC June 2019
RSGB 144MHz UKAC July 2019
RSGB 144MHz 3rd Backpackers
RSGB 432MHz UKAC July 2019
RSGB 50MHz UKAC July 2019
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC July 2019
RSGB 70MHz UKAC July 2019
RSGB 144MHz Low Power
RSGB 432MHz Low Power
RSGB 50MHz UKAC August 2019
RSGB 432MHz UKAC August 2019
RSGB 70MHz UKAC August 2019
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC August 2019
RSGB 144MHz UKAC September 2019
RSGB 50MHz UKAC September 2019
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC September 2019
RSGB 70MHz UKAC September 2019
Practical Wireless 70MHz 2019
RSGB 2.3GHz UKAC September 2019
RSGB 144MHz UKAC October 2019
RSGB 432MHz UKAC October 2019
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC October 2019
RSGB 70MHz UKAC October 2019
RSGB 2.3GHz UKAC October 2019
RSGB 10GHz UKAC October 2019
RRSGB 144MHz UKAC November 2019
RSGB 432MHz UKAC November 2019
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC November 2019
RSGB 144MHz UKAC December 2019
RSGB 432MHz UKAC December 2019
RSGB 50MHz UKAC December 2019
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC December 2019
—————————————-
sec
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AR
AR
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AR
6O
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AR
AR
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AR
5B
AL
5B
NA
AL
AL
AL
AL
AR
AR
AL
5B
AL
AL
AL
AL
MO
MO
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
LP
AR
AL
AL
AL
AL
AR
AR
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
res
1st
1st
1st
2nd
1st
9th
5th
1st
1st
1st
3rd
1st
6th
2nd
1st
1st
1st
2nd
1st
6th
4th
1st
1st
1st
3rd
1st
1st
1st
1st
11
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
3rd
5th
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
2nd
1st
1st
2nd
1st
1st
21
1st
1st
1st
1st
9th
12
1st
1st
2nd
1st
TBC
1st
2nd
Series results
RSGB 144MHz Backpackers 2019
RSGB 144MHz UKAC 2019
RSGB 50MHz UKAC 2019
RSGB 432MHz UKAC 2019
RSGB 70MHz UKAC 2019
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC 2019
RSGB 2.3GHz UKAC 2019
RSGB 10GHz UKAC 2019
RSGB Overall UKAC 2019
sec
5B
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AR
AR
NA
res
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
20
12
3rd

G1YBB Contest Results 2018

List of results of contests I have participated in during 2018. Where I have had chance to post a report there is a link to that post.

Individual Events
RSGB 144MHz UKAC January 2018
RSGB 70MHz UKAC January 2018
RSGB 1296Hz UKAC January 2018
RSGB 144MHz UKAC February 2018
RSGB 50MHz UKAC February 2018
RSGB 432MHz UKAC February 2018
RSGB 70MHz UKAC February 2018
RSGB 1296Hz UKAC February 2018
RSGB 50MHz UKAC March 2018
RSGB 432MHz UKAC March 2018
RSGB 70MHz UKAC March 2018
RSGB 1296Hz UKAC March 2018
RSGB 144MHz UKAC April 2018
RSGB 50MHz UKAC April 2018
RSGB 432MHz UKAC April 2018
RSGB 70MHz UKAC April 2018
RSGB 1296Hz UKAC April 2018
RSGB 144MHz UKAC May 2018
RSGB 50MHz UKAC May 2018
RSGB 432MHz UKAC May 2018
RSGB 70MHz UKAC May 2018
RSGB 1296Hz UKAC May 2018
RSGB 144MHz 1st Backpackers 2018
RSGB 70MHz Cumulatives #3
RSGB 144MHz UKAC June 2018
RSGB 144MHz 2nd Backpackers 2018
Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP 2018
RSGB 432MHz UKAC June 2018
RSGB 50MHz UKAC June 2018
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC June 2018
RSGB 70MHz UKAC June 2018
RSGB 70MHz Cumulatives #4
RSGB 144MHz UKAC July 2018
RSGB 144MHz 3rd Backpackers 2018
RSGB 144MHz Backpackers 2018
RSGB 432MHz UKAC July 2018
RSGB 50MHz UKAC July 2018
RSGB 144MHz UKAC August 2018
RSGB 50MHz UKAC August 2018
RSGB 70MHz Cumulatives #5
RSGB 432MHz UKAC August 2018
RSGB 70MHz UKAC August 2018
RSGB 144MHz UKAC September 2018
RSGB 50MHz UKAC September 2018
RSGB 432MHz UKAC September 2018
RSGB 70MHz UKAC September 2018
Practical Wireless 70MHz 2018
RSGB 144MHz UKAC October 2018
RSGB 70MHz UKAC October 2018
RSGB 144MHz UKAC November 2018
RSGB 432MHz UKAC November 2018
RSGB 50MHz UKAC November 2018
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC November 2018
RSGB 70MHz UKAC November 2018
RSGB 144MHz December AFS 2018
RSGB 144MHz UKAC December 2018
RSGB 432MHz UKAC December 2018
RSGB 50MHz UKAC December 2018
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC December 2018
—————————————-
sec
AL
AL
AL
AL
AR
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
5B
AL
AL
5B
NA
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
5B
5B
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
LP
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
O
AL
AL
AL
AL
res
1st
1st
3rd
47
2nd
3rd
3rd
4th
16
1st
1st
3rd
1st
1st
1st
2nd
3rd
1st
2nd
1st
1st
3rd
1st
1st
2nd
1st
1st
2nd
1st
2nd
1st
1st
3rd
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
2nd
1st
1st
1st
1st
2nd
1st
2nd
1st
1st
1st
1st
Series results
RSGB 144MHz Backpackers 2018
RSGB 70MHz Cumulatives 2018
RSGB 144MHz UKAC 2018
RSGB 50MHz UKAC 2018
RSGB 432MHz UKAC 2018
RSGB 70MHz UKAC 2018
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC 2018
RSGB Overall UKAC 2018
sec
5B
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
N/A
res
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
1st
3rd
4th

G1YBB Contest round up 2017

2017 was was first full year back into VHF contesting (and some HF contesting too) since the 1990s. In 2016 I did the RSGB Backpackers series with Paul G1YFC and we achieved great success winning the series and I started doing the 144MHz UKAC series, initially as practice runs for the backpackers then it becomes kind of addictive.

Over December 2016 we tried to rally our local club Hereford Amateur Radio Society into joining us on the bands in the UKAC contests. Take up was encouraging and several members said they would come on the air for the club. Additionally the rules for the UKACs were changed to divide the ‘clubs’ into National and Local. So HARS would be in the section for ‘real’ radio clubs with members only eligible within a 35km radius of a designated central point. During our plans we thought it would be feasible and great if HARS could get into the top 10 of the local club category.

December was busy for me as I had decided to take part in the 50MHz UKAC series along with the 144MHz UKAC series. But to do so I needed a 50MHz beam! So I was busy buying aluminium and building. I finished the main build and tested it literally the evening before the January 50MHz UKAC contest!

144MHz PW QRP.
This is the one I really hope to win and this year we were hoping to repeat our success of 2016. The weather on top of the Black Mountains was evil. Wet and VERY VERY windy all day. It took us 2 hours just to set up the mast and antenna, then we bent my tent poles in the wind so I had to prop up the corner of the tent with my head and shoulders for over 7 hours. However we did well and managed to take the win again.
144MHz PW QRP Top Ten stations 2017

144MHz UKAC.
On 144MHz I hit the ground running as I used to do a lot of contesting on 144MHz years ago and of course had been active in the UKAC and Backpackers in 2016. After initially entering some 2016 UKACs with the FT-817 I started using the old FT-225RD as it is still the best receiver of the radios I own.
I started 2017 the way I ended 2016, with a winning streak. Competition is fierce on 144MHz but working hard I managed to win all but one of the 12 session, which I am well pleased with.
144MHz UKAC AL Section final standings
144MHz Backpackers.
Myself and Paul G1YFC also took part in the 144MHz Backpackers series. We only managed 3 sessions of the possible 5 due to other commitments, but we managed to win those 3 sessions and retain the trophy we won in 2016.
144MHz Backpackers 5B Section final standings

144MHz Trophy.
I was pleased to be invited to the Isle of Sheppey to join the Blacksheep Contest Group to help operate their open section station in one of the biggest 144MHz contests in the calendar. I have done this in the past with Kevin G1VDF but it’s hard work running a 24 hour station. Blacksheep run a multi mast multi op station which was good fun to see and operate. Despite our best efforts though we were beaten into 2nd place by Parallel Lines CG.
144MHz Trophy Open section results 2017
50MHz UKAC.
This was almost a new band for me as we only did a few 50MHz contests in the 90s. I had to build a yagi for the band and literally finished (to a point it was usable) the night before the first contest! I had two inches of snow in that first contest but managed to win, which is a decent achievement being up against G4CLA who is rather good and successful. I lead my section for a while but finally succumbed and was beaten to second place by 65 points only!
50MHz UKAC AL Section final standings
432MHz UKAC.
I hadn’t planned to do this band this year but as the club take up was very good I decided I should help out! So I borrowed a beam from Craig M0BUL and started in March. I was much more enthusiastic after winning my first one! I didn’t win the next few but got the hang of the band towards the end of the year. Just enough to scrape winning the section by just THREE points.
432MHz UKAC AL Section final standings
70MHz UKAC.
This was another band I hadn’t planned to do but I borrowed a transverter and beam from Matt G8XYJ and started on the band in February, the first time ever on the band for me. I then bought my own Ukranian transverter (which are brilliant for the price) and built my own long yagi twice the length of the borrowed one. This helped me get great results and although I was only able to do 9 of the 12 sessions I managed to win the last few sessions and gain enough points to take the AL section win.
70MHz UKAC AL Section final standings
1296MHz UKAC.
I had no intention at all of taking part on this band but as we went on through the year and were challenging Sheffield for 1st lace overall I decided to try and help us get more points on one of our weaker bands. I had no kit at all but first shared a station with Stuart G3WRA and later borrowed his kit when he wasn’t able to take part. Stuart’s transverter only generates 2W RF so taking part in the AL 10W section was quite hard work. I did manage a 4th place though in December!
I managed 37th place overall from 4 sessions.

Club results.
Hereford Amateur Radio Society had an amazing first year in the local club section of the UKACs. We came 2nd overall and also won the 144MHz and 50MHz bands outright.
Local Club Overall UKAC results 2017

G1YBB Contest Results 2017

List of results of contests I have participated in during 2017. Where I have had chance to post a report there is a link to that post.

2017
RSGB 144MHz UKAC January 2017
RSGB 50MHz UKAC January 2017
RSGB 144MHz UKAC February 2017
RSGB 50MHz UKAC February 2017
RSGB 70MHz UKAC February 2017
RSGB 144MHz UKAC March 2017
RSGB 50MHz UKAC March 2017
RSGB 432MHz UKAC March 2017
RSGB 70MHz UKAC March 2017
RSGB 80m CC SSB March 2017
RSGB 144MHz UKAC April 2017
RSGB 432MHz UKAC April 2017
RSGB 50MHz UKAC April 2017
RSGB 70MHz UKAC April 2017
RSGB 144MHz UKAC May 2017
RSGB 432MHz UKAC May 2017
RSGB 50MHz UKAC May 2017
RSGB 144MHz UKAC June 2017
RSGB 432MHz UKAC June 2017
RSGB 144MHz 2nd Backpackers 2017
Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP 2017
RSGB 50MHz UKAC June 2017
RSGB 70MHz UKAC June 2017
RSGB 80m CC SSB June 2017
RSGB 144MHz 3rd Backpackers 2017
RSGB 144MHz UKAC July 2017
RSGB 432MHz UKAC July 2017
RSGB 50MHz UKAC July 2017
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC July 2017
RSGB 70MHz UKAC July 2017
RSGB 80m CC Data July 2017
RSGB 144MHz UKAC August 2017
RSGB 144MHz 4th Backpackers 2017
RSGB Backpackers Championship 2017
144MHz Low Power Contest 2017
RSGB 432MHz UKAC August 2017
RSGB 50MHz UKAC August 2017
RSGB 70MHz UKAC August 2017
RSGB 144MHz Trophy 2017
RSGB 144MHz UKAC September 2017
RSGB 432MHz UKAC September 2017
RSGB 50MHz UKAC September 2017
RSGB 144MHz UKAC October 2017
RSGB 432MHz UKAC October 2017
RSGB 50MHz UKAC October 2017
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC October 2017
RSGB 70MHz UKAC October 2017
RSGB 144MHz UKAC November 2017
RSGB 50MHz UKAC November 2017
RSGB 432MHz UKAC November 2017
RSGB 70MHz UKAC November 2017
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC November 2017
RSGB 144MHz UKAC December 2017
RSGB 50MHz UKAC December 2017
RSGB 1296MHz UKAC December 2017
RSGB 70MHz UKAC December 2017
sec
AL
AR
AL
AR
AL
AL
AR
AL
AL
100
AL
AL
AR
AL
AL
AL
AR
AL
AL
5B
NA
AR
AL
AL
100
5B
AL
AL
AR
AL
100
AL
5B
5B
O
AL
AR
AL
O
AL
AL
AR
AL
AL
AR
AL
AL
AL
AR
AL
AL
AL
AL
AR
AL
AL
res
1st
1st
1st
3rd
4th
1st
2nd
1st
1st
107
1st
4th
2nd
1st
1st
3rd
3rd
1st
3rd
1st
1st
8th
3rd
13
1st
1st
2nd
6th
34
1st
21
2nd
1st
1st
4th
1st
1st
1st
2nd
1st
1st
2nd
1st
1st
2nd
10
1st
1st
2nd
1st
1st
8th
1st
3rd
4th
1st

G1YBB Contest Results 2016

List of results of contests I have participated in during 2016. Where I have had chance to post a report there is a link to that post.

sec
AL
AL
3B
AL
3B
NA
3B
AL
3B
3B
O
AL
AL
AL
res
3rd
1st
2nd
7th
1st
1st
1st
9th
1st
1st
4th
1st
1st
1st