Dear Group,
Thanks to Mother Nature, the aerial is iced and down again, so
VO1NA will be QRT for another while. The good news is that the
authorisation to TX on 2200m has been extended for another year.
XKO was at quite audible levels last night and could be clearly
seen on Spectrum Lab and Argo (QRSS and NDB modes). A 2 metre 15
turn loop about 60m from the shack was used to receive the sigs.
It was found that an isolation transformer was needed between the
line output of the RX and the computer and that about 3 dB of
attenuation (with a pot) was necessary to avoid the red-line in Argo.
If the xfmr was not in place, a strong 60Hz component and harmonics
appeared on the Spectrum Lab display which redced the S/N considerably.
I have built a PAORTD miniwhip and could receive DCF39 (in much BUZZZZZ)
last night with the antenna in the shack. I've taken the miniwhip
mobile and it works very well except within a km or two of MF broadcast
stations where intermodulation is a problem. Congrats to Roelof on
a very good design. I expect it will work much better if
it is placed away from the shack and suspended from a Magnolia tree.
73
Joe
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