G5RV

DX Century Club

Bill1 Comment

Today, I became a member of The DX Century Club (DX is shorthand for distance). I have confirmed contacts with amateur radio stations in 100 distinct geographic and political entities in the official DXCC List. It took me a little over a year to make all of the needed contacts, gleaned from over 1660 total confirmed contacts.

All of the following contacts were made using the FT8 digital mode, with no more than 100 Watts. My antenna is a G5RV, a simple dipole antenna with 30 feet of ladder line, and a 6-inch diameter “ugly” balun with 10 turns of the feed line. The antenna and transceiver are pictured below:

This demonstrates that big towers, antennas, and high power are not needed to work the world.

My First 100 Confirmed Countries for DXCC

AlaskaChinaGhanaLuxembourgSt. Lucia
AlbaniaColumbiaGreeceMadeira IslandsSt. Vincent
AndorraCosta RicaGuadeloupeMaltaSan Andres Island
AnguillaCubaGuatemalaMauritaniaSardinia
ArgentinaCroatiaGuernseyMexicoScotland
Asiatic RussiaCuracaoHawaiiMonacoSerbia
AustraliaCyprusHungaryMoroccoSlovak Republic
AustriaCzech RepublicIcelandNambiaSlovenia
AzoresDenmarkIndonesiaNetherlandsSpain
Balearic IslandsDominicaIrelandNew CaledoniaSweden
BarbadosDominican RepublicIsraelNew ZealandSwitzerland
BelarusEcuadorItalyNorthern IrelandTrinidad and Tobago
BelgiumEl SalvadorJapanNorwayTurkey
BelizeEnglandJerseyPanamaUkraine
Bosnia-HerzegovinaEstoniaKazakhstanPolandUnited Arab Emirates
BrazilEuropean RussiaKenyaPortugalUnited States
BulgariaFederal Republic of GermanyKuwaitPuerto RicoUruguay
CanadaFiji IslandsLatviaRepublic of South AfricaVirgin Islands
Canary IslandsFinlandLebanonRodriguez IslandVenezuela
ChileFranceLithuaniaRomaniaWales
Confirmed QSOs

I will continue to make more contacts to achieve the many endorsements (e.g. 100 entities on a single band). I already have 75 contacts just on the 40-meter band.

Antenna Wear and Tear

BillLeave a comment

Stormstown is nestled in Halfmoon Valley. The valley is often windy, with the flow mainly from the southwest. The winds have been taking a toll on my outdoor equipment, mainly the flags and flagpole, and my G5RV HF amateur radio antenna.

Most of the damage has been minor. In the past six months, I have had to replace the dipole wires, resolder the ladder line connectors at the feed point, replace a section of coax due to a broken connection at the feed point, and replace two clamps and three sections for the collapsible mast.

During my latest repair, to replace the coax, I secured the ladder line with cable ties. That may reduce some of the wear and tear on the cables and connections.

I am a frequent check-in on the 3rd Region Net at 2100 UTC (3.918 MHz, LSB), and The Western PA Phone Traffic Net at 2200 UTC (3.983 MHz, LSB). My callsign is WX2DX.

nts_clInformation on the National Traffic System

If you’d like to send a radiogram, send me a comment.

New HF Antenna

Bill1 Comment

The vertical wire antenna I set up a few weeks ago was not working out. I decided to replace it with a G5RV antenna, installed as an inverted V. Since there are no suitable trees on our property, I needed a mast to support it.

I ordered and received a fiberglass mast, which was easy to assemble. However, it was necessary to attach two rope guys to keep it from bending. The two antenna wires also serve as guy lines.

Soon after completing the installation, I made a contact with a station in Indiana. Today, stations that were barely readable before were coming in with good signals. They were barely readable with the other antenna. Even though propagation has not been good this summer, the G5RV has been a great improvement.