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KD4RDS,
Letting the last few feet dangle straight down will be ok. In fact, if you are operating mostly in the SSB portion of the bands you will find the QUAD will need to be shortened to something less than 65 feet. Better fitting your location.73 for now,
QRPMENo need to support the stubs. As a vertical the stubs will hang in contact with the main radiator. That’s not recommended. Which antenna are you referring to?
EF-QUAD, EF-20/40 or EF-30/40?QRPME
KA2ZEY,
Three and many other questions can be answered in the LD5 manual find on our web page under the “manuals tab.Yes, filtering is built in. There are 4 filters for each mode. Three are preset but adjustable in the service menu. The fourth is useradjustable on the fly.
Yes, digital operation is a available without the use of a separate sound card.
FLdigi,digipan, micwindoes, HRD etc will all work with t the LD5. Instructions are also included in the manual for a very simple interface cable.No, there is no internal battery. A separate power source is required.
73 for now,
QRPMEIt may not be common mode current Mike. (current coming back down the coax)
Is is an internal speaker or external speakers on your PC?
If it is external it may be the speaker wire receiving the radiated signal from the antenna. Some clip on chokes (toroids) may cure the problem.
If not then try about 6-8 six inch coils of coax 3 or four feet from the rig.73 for now,
QRPMEClint,
I spoke with Larry and it seems a number of antennas shipped with a radiator 10-12 feet too long. Either measure your radiator to 65 feet and start from there or fold back about 10 feet and see how that affects the swr. If it draws it much closer to spec, then start trimming it in 4 foot increments to sneak up on the correct length. Let me know how it works out. We apologize for the confusion.Randy_KB4QQJ
Clint,
You can trim/tune the antenna in one of two ways: Either cut the wire or wrap the wire back along itself toward the feed point. I prefer cutting the wire for the very bottom of the band, (cw portion) then wrapping to shorten it to the voice portion.
Be sure the wire is routed through the insulating anchor before wrapping, and you may wish to use a combination of cutting and wrapping to carefully trim into just the right frequency without having an excessive wire wrap. In wrapping, be sure the wrap is as tight as you can get it in small loops back around the main radiator. Make it look like a small hangmans noose.
Photo- http://www.kb4qqj.com/wrap.jpg
If you are now getting the lowest SWR at 5.8 mHz you will be reducing the antenna length roughly 39″ to get to the low end of band.Clint,
#1> Is the heat pump directly under the radiator or off to the side?#2> Instead of just folding the excess back, be sure it is wrapped tightly on itself for two or three close turns (like a hangmans noose), then let the remainder hang free instead of wrapping it back on the radiator.
#3> Can you give me SWR readings at:
7.000 =
7.100 =
7.200 =#4> What are you using to measure SWR?:
antenna analyzer,directional watt meter, rigs internal meter etc.The more information the more we can help.
73 for now,
Randy_KB4QQJKG0MN,
Most of the LnR crew are at the Hamvention in Dallas Texas or packing to go there. The command set is the same as the Kenwood 2000 or (I think) any modern Kenwood.
The Y adapter is as you say easily homebrewed. Donner Digital may make one for you. It’s worth a try to contact them.73 for now,
QRPMEHi Swolfram,
At present there are no replacement radiators available from LnR.
However, it is pretty easy build your own. Just go to one of the home improvement stores and purchase some 18 gauge wire. Measure your current radiator and each of the stubs, then measure the distance from the matchbox to where each stub connects to the main radiator. Go to the auto parts store and buy the connectors and place them the same distance from the matchbox as your Quad.73 for now,
RandySwolfram,
Could you give us a little more information on the deployment?
It sounds like you would be better off running the QUAD as a sloper. It is 65 feet long if you are operating at the bottom of each CW sub band. If you mostly operate in the phone portion then it will be somewhat shorter. The 10 meter stub is about 16 feet away from the feed point. If you can get the stub horizontal then it would work well as an inverted “L”.Is your shack window near the house edge? Attaching the box there and running as a sloper would work better. If you give me a number I can give you a call and make better suggestions. Email me direct at qrpm at aol.com.
73 for now,
Randy_KB4QQJHi Allian,
I believe you got it figured out according to Larry.
I would be curious what method you used to measure the frequency and determine it was off by a few hertz? They are calibrated using sophisticated equipment and if by “few” hertz you mean less than 20 or 30 Hertz, that is one thing. If you mean 200 or 300 that is all together different. What piece of equipment did you use to measure the frequency? Was it the transmit frequency or the receive frequency?
If you altered it, did you alter transmit and receive or just one?73 for now,
RandyHi Eddie,
Thanks for the kind words about your existing PAR antennas.
The difference in the EFT-10/20/40 (Trail Friendly) and the EF-10/20/40 MKII is the the wire gauge used for the radiator, size of the match box used and a cosmetically different inductor in the radiator. The function and performance is the same. The Trail friendly is intended for more temporary use and employs the #22 wire instead of the #18. It is also much lighter. We recommend 25 feet of coax for the EndFedz since it uses the coax outer shield for a return path to ground.The difference is negligible in the RG58 and RG174 for performance at that short of a run. ( less than 25 feet) Of course the RG174 is much lighter than the RG58. I believe Larry still offers the Teflon RG316 which is slightly larger than the 174 but not nearly as large as the 58.
Hope that helps you some. If not let us know.73 for now,
QRPMEJohn,
By “tuning” do you mean using a tuner or shortening the wire by wrapping it around itself at the end insulator? Once the EF or EFT-10/20/40 is made resonate by folding the wire back on itself it can be used without a tuner.73 for now,
QRPMEIt means you will have to use a lot more coax to reach your radio unless you are on the high side of the sloper where the match box is. There is no real difference. If there is surrounding (metal especially) structure close to the match box that can have an effect. But for the most part there is no appreciable difference other than the amount of coax needed to reach the rig.
By for the most common method is to feed the antenna as close to the radio as you can.73 for now,
QRPMEDale,
What areas of 10 meters will you be operating in mostly?
If it is CW you don’t need to do anything. If it is SSB and you are staying in the 28.300 to 28.500 voice section (tech license) the VSWR looks like it is getting better. (lower) If the SWR is 2:0 at 28.000 and 1:7 at 28.300 then it is likely going to be less (1:5) at 28.600.
can you tell us a little about your set up and deployment?
Radio?
Antenna height and direction?
Any surroinding objests etc. All information helps.
but just looking at the numbers you have provided it looks good.
An SWR of 1:7.1 is plenty acceptable. Any SWR beolw 2:0.1 is acceptable to the radio.Randy_KB4QQJ
