K0LWC Ham Shack Tour: Coax Entry Panel and VHF/UHF Antenna Mast!
K0LWC Ham Shack Tour: Coax Entry Panel and VHF/UHF Antenna Mast!
Take a quick tour on the progress I’ve made with the K0LWC ham shack. It’s a work in progress, but VHF/UHF is performing really well!
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you need to put that antenna farther up the mast close to the tip of the mast it might help you with the swr i know it did me
Nice and clean ground system! the antenna if you can place vetical to the box not the other side, seems too low and too much coax and place the pole on the wall and not on patio so gain in height…my 2 cent 73 de iz3qvb
This is just what I need for my new shack. Is there a way to run ladder line in through the box?
Points to coil of coax, points to antenna, wonders why SWR is an issue…. maybe the COIL of FEED LINE!
Nah, go with the Diamond X6000A. I have one, it’s the bollocks.
Nice video. I’ve been considering the same entry panel. How did you secure the panel to the side of the house. Just screws directly into studs?
the vswr issue might be because it looks like the antenna ground plane is below the mast pole, try rising the antenna up higher so the ground planes are above the mast pole.
K0LWC Why did you not put the grounding rod closer to you entery box all those bends not really good for grounding
Nice install, what about a ground for the antenna mast?
My guess would be the swr issue is the 20ft of coiled coax.
I just did the same install last week, with slight modifications. I installed two, twenty foot poles, one with that same UHF/VHF antenna, which tops out at 37′. and another with a Discone antenna which tops out at around 25′. The poles on also on my rear deck but, because I have an 8′ wall on two sides, that are constructed between 8"X8" posts that also support the deck itself. My masts are then supported with 2" pipe strapping, and lag bolted to the posts. They are also guy wired to the deck railings ? (None of this really impressed my wife all that much, but she went along with it.) The pipes are individually grounded with 60′ of heavy duty coax running across the cellar to my shack. I just analyzed the VHF/UHF antenna last night, and got a really nice 1.2 SWR reading, but I have yet to try to make a contact. The area I live in has two repeaters, and the next closest ones are 7, 14, 21, 27, and 30 miles, with plenty of hills in between. Unfortunalely, I live in a lowland area, so getting out on UHF/VHF is always a struggle.
Hi, I’m trying to configure my Entry panel now. Is that the Bronze color option for your Entry Panel? Also, what diameter conduit size to your shack are we seeing? Thanks very much for your help!
This is a great set-up but limited to those with a deck. I got a deck on the second floor but just bought a 8ft tower for the roof. I’m getting second thoughts now. I’m not sure I’m going to use the tower I bought now that I see your set up. I have more weight to support than you. Maybe 50lbs total. Think your set-up is much stronger for wind too. If I go with your set-up, I will need more than one stand off support of the house.
Very nice. Hope to catch you on MN 3127 some day.
That entry panel looks really nice! I’ve been thinking about doing some upgrades to my coax entry and will be taking at hard look at this to see if it will work for me. Thanks for sharing!
G’day from Australia …. We use UHF as our primary 80 channel citizen band radio systems operating on 476.4250 to 477.4125 . I have about 10 handhelds both 2 watt and 5 watt and four of my units are dual band UHF/VHF units . I have three vehicles and all three have five watt car UHF’s for road usage which is the maximum allowable output power for private use . After that you require licencing and qualification . In my State (Tasmania) we have lots of non highway roads where mobile phone coverage is not good or non existent so having UHF access is great . We have two emergency channels on 5 and 35 which is 476.525 .. Channels 1 to 8 and 41 to 48 are Duplex repeater channels where repeaters are present . I have three repeaters Channel 3 , 7 and 8 not too far from me , One day I’d like to set up a basic base station at home . Your vid is a great help for a good antenna set up . Thanks …
What was it like working with LMR 600? Did you do the connections yourself? You mentioned switching to the Ultraflex at the box. Was that just to make the 90 degree turn or for any other reason? would you make the same coax decisions if doing it again? …independent ground rod, or tie into panel ground rod for house service?
Nice VHF/UHF install. You really thought it out, well. If I were doing it, I would do it the lazy way by just putting a tripod on the roof. Maybe you’ll be able to get into our repeater, if the conditions are right, over here in Jamestown, ND. 147.180 (+.600 input) no PL. There is a guy in MN that gets in, quite often. – ND0TS
Newbie here KO4MWD. I like the antenna set up. If I might recommend looking at some angle brackets to mount on the bottom side of the deck board then through the deck joist. Might be over kill, but in the mountains of Virginia where I live it gets VERY windy. Where is a good place to order lmr600? I’m currently running a btech uv50x2, 100′ rg8u, and a tram antenna 1477 I believe. Thanks! 73
What was the answer to your SWR problems.
Extremely, long cable witch will cause a big antenna gain loss.
Forgot to mention in previous reply . VHF is essentially used for aircraft , marine coms and safety/ weather updates and police , fire , ambulance , forestry , SES ,and rail and is mostly encrypted and anyone caught with units that can interact on these emergency services faces huge fines and having to give up the equipment and repeat offenders can face gaol time ..You can listen though via scanners so long as you can’t hook into and hamper operations . HF is used for long distance as you’d know of course . 27 Meg /SSB is essentially gone now , The truckies and buses etc use UHF almost exclusively now . Even though VHF is primarily for essential services some of the services do carry UHF as well as a back up which is mostly for citizen use in case it’s needed or VHF links aren’t available or failed .
What radio are you using in your UHF VHF system? Thinking about doing what you have done. KN4ZPG
Diamond makes some great antennas. During tropo openings, I’ve used my X50 at 35 ft above ground and made FT8 contacts over 700 miles away.
Have you considered having the mast pass through the deck and pass into the ground? Another video idea would be to repeat the Pi Star distance test but with the hotspot using the Diamond antenna. I know it isn’t what hotspots were intended for but would be interesting to see.
Good work. Well done.
Nice……….
Does the antenna needs its own power supply or just the antenna coax that goes to the radio? Sorry if I sound stupid but I am just getting in radio stuff