Ham Radio on CD22

V

Vamoose

New member
I’ve been lurking around the pub for a few weeks now trying to get together my wish list for a CD 22. I’ve read most everything on the site.

And a darn good site it is too.

How many of you are Ham Radio operators?

Aboard our sloop Vamoose we use SSB and Ham to keep up with friends along the east coast and in the Caribbean. I do the same at home, in my van, and here in the Florida condo-often on the Waterway Net.

If you have HF or Single Side Band aboard please describe your system - especially the antenna system.
 
Hey George and Penny,
Actually there are a bunch of us Hams here, both the Electronic and just hams :lol: . We used to have a thread here on who was who.. I'll start it off KD7LXK here. Don't have one in Laurna Jo yet, but might put in a 2 meter one of these days.
73's,Jim
 
Wait til you see Dusty's list of Calls.... He is the coolest one around here..he's got the most I've ever seen.
OH YEAH!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUSTY!!!!
A little belated but we were thinking of you !! Lots of :cake :cocktail :beer :gift :note :rose to you!!
 
Thanks for the Happy B'day wishes, dear buddies. No ham like an old ham, eh? But after that many years of hamming you just gotta collect a few calls. Not active now, dang it, but when the boat stuff gets settled I'll probably put in a 2 meter rig just to stay in touch with all... my old Collins gear still lonesome and gathering dust in the basement -- 75A4 and KWS1. Should be in the antique store along with Jon's radar and Dusty!

Dusty
 
Hi George and Penny,

K7KJR here with a 2 Meter rig on my 22. I have an Yaesu 1500M on the boat under a Morad UHF 146. It is a base loaded 6 DB antenna. I didn't want an eight footer up there. You can see the antenna on my album somewhere. The other is a Morad 156 for the marine band.
 
Actually, I think the 1500Ms are the Yaesus rather than the Icoms, no? The Icoms are 2100Hs I think. I have the same (one Yaesu 1500M on the boat, one Icom 2100H as the base station at home), but on the boat just a couple of cheap Shakespeare 4' base loaded whip marine VHF antennas, one for the VHF, the other for the 2 meter, a close enough match if not perfect...so far seems to work great!

In the San Juans (and each morning on our net at 6:45 am), we use the Lyman Hill repeater, 145.19 Mhz, 127.3 subaudible tone. This is an AWESOME repeater, range covers from way up in B.C. down south past Olympia, WA...

Pat Anderson on Daydream, KD7OAC

Anna Leigh":2ru2w187 said:
Hi George and Penny,

K7KJR here with a 2 Meter rig on my 22. I have an Icom 1500M on the boat under a Morad UHF 146. It is a base loaded 6 DB antenna. I didn't want an eight footer up there. You can see the antenna on my album somewhere. The other is a Morad 156 for the marine band.
Click to expand...
 
Jim,

Looks like the Laurna Jo needs another antenna on the port side to balance things out. If repeaters in the NW are as pervasive and as good as I hear, 2 meters may do the job. I have an Icom 706MKIIG that I use in the van with a screwdriver type antenna good for 6-40 meters. I use a mag mount for 2 meters - the rig has a separate connection for 2 meters. This is the rig I would use on a 22. Two meters would be no problem on a 22. I could probably use the VHF antenna with satisfactory results.

Getting 20 and 40 meters on a small fiberglass boat with little metal for a counterpoise (ground) is tougher. All I can think of is a ground to a Dynaplate.

Any ideas anyone??

==
Sparky,
(otherwise known as 75A4 and KWS1),

I though that those call numbers were only given respectively to WW1 and WW2 spies. I hear that Collins was the rig of choice.


David,

I did see the two antennas on Anna Leigh. It looks good - balanced. Jim needs a prod -send him a picture. Did you try 2 meters, on the 146 antenna?


Pat,

Thanks for the tip on the Lyman Hill repeater. Penny and I plan to be under its coverage in late May or June – possibly to pick up a 22 and do a little cruising in the area.

73s

George
 
You bet, hang onto the info, when you are here, be sure to check in at 6:45 a.m. and say hello to David and me, we are pretty much 365 day / year regulars (well, we miss a few every now and then, but not many). All comers are welcome!
Vamoose":9ntz1w3b said:
Jim,

Pat,

Thanks for the tip on the Lyman Hill repeater. Penny and I plan to be under its coverage in late May or June – possibly to pick up a 22 and do a little cruising in the area.

73s

George
Click to expand...
 
George and Penny,

Glad to hear from you. FYI, in addition to the above mentioned thread, there is a dedicated page on the previous C-brats MSN group site. It is basically a listing of C-Hams with callsigns, names, rigs, antennas, etc. The page I'm referring to is still active in that I just recently noticed a new posting to it.

As for our 22' Cruiser, I have an IC-706MKIIG with a yet to be mounted vertical dipole comprised of two Hustler 20m resonators on the shorty MO-4 masts. My intent is to mount it in the cockpit immediately aft of the cabin bulkhead, starboard side. Haven't decided what to do about the Bimini; hate to punch a hole in a perfectly good piece of sunbrella!

I haven't been inspired to run 2m from the boat yet but my curiosity did lead to an SWR check indicating quite acceptable results on the existing marine VHF antenna (Digital 4' model).

C-Dorys are obviously a challenge for the HF spectrum compared to what you've had to work with on your sloop but I'm looking forward to that challenge. If all goes well, I hope to one day be able to add a marine page to my hamsite,[www.qsl.net/w0kfg].

Great to hear from you. I do think a C-Ham net or roundtable could be in our future some day if the group continues to grow.

73, Richard on "TK Grand"
W0KFG
 
Richard,

Your message prompted me to place a couple of orders. The condo we have in Marathon will not let me keep an antenna on the roof. I had been considering using two HamSticks as a dipole attached to a mount that HamStick sells. So, I ordered the above from HamSticks and from MFJ, I ordered a 33 ft. telescoping fiberglass Mast.

When they arrive, I will assemble and Penny and I will go to a nearby park and I will tie the pole to the car and give it a try. If it works, I will deploy it at the condo.

When I get the CD22, I will guy the pole in the corner of the boat and raise it as high as conditions permit. Since each resonator is 7 ft long, this arrangement is only good while at anchor. I may experiment with one of the HamSticks as a vertical with something like a Dynaplate as counterpoise. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I took a look at your station. Quite a nice set-up you have!

George
 
George,

Sounds great. I've fooled with a hamstick dipole while traveling for work and it did quite well. My reason for using the hustler shorty masts was to keep the overall length of the dipole as short as possible at, I suppose, some loss of efficiency. Time will tell how the dipole will work with one end just above the floor of the cockpit but, if successful, I should be able to mount it semi-permanently and have HF SSB on the go.

I don't believe you said, but if you're elevating yours on the mast, you're probably going horizontal with the dipole. That should work like a champ! Keep the rest of us informed as to how it works out.
I personally will be keeping an eye on this thread since this is one of my favorite subjects!

By the way, thanks for your compliment on the station. A bigger shot of it is available at qrz.com (do a callsign search on W0KFG). I was serious about wanting to add a marine page to the website once I have something to photograph. FYI, the station is completely disassembled now in preparation for a future move and may never be re-erected in as grandiose a fashion. But it sure was fun last time!

73--Richard
on "TK Grand"
 
  • K4KBA Charrlie Vinroot Captain's Choice Cod Creek - Potomac - Chesapeake FT-100 ATAS 100 146.52

    K7KJR David McKibben Anna Leigh Guemes Island, WA Yaesu 1500M Morad 146HD 145.190 Lyman Hill Rptr

    KB8RQD Tony Y-NOT Eaton, Oh. IC-28H plan to add DX-70T or MFJ 9420 Shared w/VHF 145.470- local repeater 146.52 on river

    KC6NTO . Merrill Walstad Tera-Lu Huntington Beach, CA Kenwood 2m/440 Coupled to VHF

    KD7LXK Jim Laurna Jo Puyallup,Wa none on boat, Alinco DR-610 in Kenworth however will use VHF on boat use I-5 repeaters usually

    KD7OAC Pat Anderson Daydream Birch Bay, WA Yaesu FT-1500M 2 meter Shakespeare 4' base loaded VHF 145.19, minus offset, 127.3 tone
    Best repeater for San Juans

    KL0GL Dan WAVEWALKER Ketchikan, AK Ten-Tec Jupiter/Yaesu VX7R

    SM7ASL Tore Ängelholm IC 735 vertikal

    WA2YMF Charles Naccarato Sirena Norfork Va. Icom-751 & Yeasu 757 dipole and verticle

    WØKFG Richard TK Grand Bismarck, ND IC-706 MkIIG (not in boat yet) Hustler MO4 mobile 14.300, 14.313

    WP2F Roy Fun Patrol Hemet, CA I-706 MKIIG 23 ft whip 7.294 14.340
 
We've got a new Ham Radio operator---Wade Vollmer of the good ship WHY KNOT--call sign KE7ABO. I might be the newest but I bet I'm the oldest except for Dusty that is--nobody's older than he is but he sure looks good especially standing in that beautiful Orca 24 of his. As a matter of fact he's my hero but don't let him know that.
 
Hey Wade, Congratulations on the ham ticket. Hope to hear you on the Lyman Hill repeater sometime. Like Pat said there is a morning net at 6:45 daily on 146.190. 127.3 I believe is the subaudible tone. (Doing this from memory from our 50th state).
This net had been going since about 1987 and not missed a day.
 
WA6WKL first, and again after FCC Vanity reg allowed us our old calls back, with a couple of ex calls; WA3LKH and KJ0P. Old highly modified Alinco 110 scheduled for the Jenny B at some point.
 
Last year, at about this time, Penny and I joined C-Brats under the name Vamoose. See posts above. This year with the purchase of our C-Dory, we joined C-Brats again, under the new boat’s name – Wanderer.

I’d like to hear the details from anyone who has installed an HF antenna on board a C-Dory; or, anyone who has made plans to do so. The counterpoise/grounding is of particular interest. Did you use a tuner, a ground plate, tie to the engine, etc.?

If the weather keeps us in the harbor for the next few days, I plan to install our Icom 706, and run the 2 meter outlet to the 8 ft. 6 db VHF antenna through a coax switch. Past experience suggests acceptable performance. However, my real interest lies in 20 and 40 meters, especially the very active Waterway Radio & Cruising Club net (7268 at 0745 ET, daily)

D6635%20Born%20Free%20Dipole.jpg

The picture above shows two HF antennas. On our trip from Annapolis to Alaska, we used the shorter screw type antenna most of the time. However, if we planned to be in the same spot for a few days, I’d raise the pole with two Ham Sticks configured as a dipole, unless trees were handy, then, I’d throw two weights as high as possible and pull up a wire dipole. The order in increasing effectiveness was: screw, Ham Sticks and cut dipole; opposite to the order of convenience.

My first try with HF on Wanderer, will be the 40 meter HamStick dipole atop a ? ft. pole tied in the corner of the cockpit. I’d prefer a marine weather proof vertical on top the cabin opposite the 8 ft. VHF antenna.

Any ideas

WB3GQR
 
Since there has been so much interest… :D

Wanderer now has adequate long range radio communication. We find this important for three reasons: Fun, Email, and Safety.

Fun:
We have a number of friends who either live on boats or who spend a great deal of time on them, in places far removed from VHF or cell phone coverage. They spend most of their time at anchor or underway. We use communications nets which meet at a time and frequency to stay in touch. Even if you don’t want to talk to a particular person, it is interesting to hear that they have sailed from Mayaguanna to San Salvador and may be near you next month. Their experiences are more entertaining and informative than canned broadcasts. You can even jump in and pose questions or ask for more details.

Email:
Add a computer with the right software and a TNC (a radio modem) and you can send and receive email while at anchor. You can get weather maps and weather reports and other useful cruising information.

Safety:
I don’t know if this is the most important reason because I hope never to need the radio to protect life or property; but, I have heard by long range transmission:
- distress calls for a variety of reasons from a number of boats
- a doctor describe how to apply a splint to a broken arm
- a mechanic walk a sailor through bleeding the air from a diesel fuel line
- arrange an 1100 mile tow for a dismasted sailboat in the TransPac race
- arrangements to deliver a starter to a fishing boat in the Turks and Caicos

To my way of thinking, it is better to talk to someone and find out that help is on the way than it is to activate an EPIRB and hope someone shows up to render assistance. Now, being a belt and suspenders type, I wouldn’t go to remote places without both.
 
Ad N5TDT to list of hams. Have not been active but sometimes bring a 2M handheld on board, got me out of a jam when I got lost on a cypress-filled lake several years ago.
 
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