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[KD7HNN]

Has anyone ever used a tribander or 40m beam on 30m with a tuner? I would like to try for 3Y0j on FT8. I have a tribander with  2 el 40m on same boom and  a Drake MN2700 tuner, but I dont want to damage anything.

[KB4MNG]

You can try it. There will not be any directivity. Just radiation from the power the can get out of the coax. Dont run much over 100 watts

[K6AER]

In using any antenna not designed for the operational frequency, especially a beam, means none of the radiators are resonate and effectively become a radiating dummy load.

You can fool your transmitting source with a antenna tuner but VSWR losses become such an issue a random piece of wire becomes a much better radiator.

Buy the ARRL Antenna Handbook and start reading. There are no short cuts in this hobby.

[VE3TMT]

I doubt you'd hear them anyway with all the a-holes jamming the DX frequency.

[VK3KTT]

if you ran a sloping dipole or a dipole from the tower you would have a much better shot and could use you full legal limit which will help.

[KD6VXI]

3YOJ was a joke.  Heading to an island in the south during the winter, bad idea.  Having someone constantly posting new frequencies on facebook, and posting that they where using 18.107 SSB F/H, another joke.  I've not figured out how to operate F/H on SSB...  I get it, it was a typo. 

But for an operation looking at the million dollar mark, I expected better.  I've worked other operators there.  They had better signals.  Propogation right now is through the roof.  I had ZERO issues working JA, VK, VE, ZL and others.  Both in the region and not, so it wasn't the station here.  I decoded them on ft8 a few times, but with the utter nonsensical morons surrounding the frequency I didn't even try.

I get it, they are out of the way, it's cold, and it was planned about as well as....  The generators they brought?  Utter rubbish.  Too big for what they needed, not fuel efficient models and not enough fuel.  You run a generator near it's limit for fuel efficiency.  You don't bring a 13kw generator to run 2 x 100 watt radios and some lights.  When I saw the gennies brought I was hoping they where using them for heaters in the tent as well.

Anyway, ./end rant.


One good thing did come out of this dxpedition.  My wife says I can buy a Catamaran.  I might not make Bouvet, but I'll make more islands!!!

--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI

[WB6BYU]

...Heading to an island in the south during the winter, bad idea...

It was, of course, high summer down there, even
if it was still cold.

I really wouldn’t want to go there in the winter...

[N2SR]

if you ran a sloping dipole or a dipole from the tower you would have a much better shot and could use you full legal limit which will help.

US 30m power limit is 200 watts. 

[K0RS]

From Seattle you would be better off loading a 40m beam up on 17m, which will work and try working them longpath.  They were on this morning listening for NA on 18.072.  The west coast had an excellent shot at them while they had EU QRX.  You would have to touch up the SWR on the beam and the MN-2700 isn't known for being happy on 17m.  The tribander could arc a trap with high power, but the 40m beam should be safe on 17m.

I'm afraid it's hypothetical at this point as they claim to being QRT tonite (0300Z 14-Feb).

[N0UN]

3YOJ was a joke.  Heading to an island in the south during the winter, bad idea.

Ummm, you do understand it is Summer in the southern hemisphere, correct?  As a matter of fact, Summer starts December 1st and ends February 28th.

NØUN