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Re: inside or out

Posted: 06 Oct 2019, 22:11
by para999
nothing audible.there is something but I can't make out whether it's some one or bleed over.the bar does go up one notch but not clear enough to make out.anyhow we'll leave it there for now and I will let you know when the aerial is on the mast.i have been listening all day on all the channels and I havn't been able to pick anything up so obviously it doesn't like the loft. one last go on the mast.thanks again for trying

Re: inside or out

Posted: 06 Oct 2019, 22:16
by The Collector
Well I gave a shout out with 10/25/50/75/100 whiskys and also sent out a barrage of roger beeps. Not sure if you heard anything whatsoever, but it was silent my end other than s1-ish of static sorry.

I'm so surrounded by hills, I can't get out as well as I'd hoped, even with a bit of help and the better aerial 8ft higher :(

Re: inside or out

Posted: 06 Oct 2019, 22:18
by para999
well I had more sssh than you at my end.not your fault but we'll wait and see

Re: inside or out

Posted: 07 Oct 2019, 12:00
by 108EH002
The Collector wrote: 05 Oct 2019, 17:04 If you're around tomorrow night Danny, I'll give you a shout at exactly 11pm on UK ch39. (27.98125). I'll try talking then give a succession of beeps as sometimes they seem to cut through the mush better than a voice. I'll then try again with my bit of "help" ;)
You might have a better chance of making a contact between each other on Lsb or Usb,as 999 will have 12w instead of 4w on FM ;)

Re: inside or out

Posted: 07 Oct 2019, 12:07
by 108EH002
para999 wrote: 06 Oct 2019, 22:11 nothing audible.there is something but I can't make out whether it's some one or bleed over.the bar does go up one notch but not clear enough to make out.anyhow we'll leave it there for now and I will let you know when the aerial is on the mast.i have been listening all day on all the channels and I havn't been able to pick anything up so obviously it doesn't like the loft. one last go on the mast.thanks again for trying
Is there a sufficient groundplane for the 1/4 wave whip to sit on in the loft,and are you still using the bee mount on a bit of metal pole to ground it 999 ?

I usually just use copper wire in a cross configuration = running the wires like they are north to south/east to west will help the tx/rx imo.

A roll of cheap aluminium tinfoil laid out in a cross configuration will work if you have no spare copper wire at hand.

If you make the groundplane legs that the antenna sits on the same size as your 1/4 wave whip,coming from the centre point of your antenna out the way,then it should work better than at present.

Just because you can't hear anything at all = doesn't mean your antenna is poor = there might not be any locals on/or there was simply no skip = you could always try making a simple homebrew wire dipole 999 = there is enough space for a vertical 1/4 wave whip = so theres enough space for a wire dipole imo :thumbup:

If you are getting bleedover the station causing it would be = a channel up or down either side of the frequency you are using = and it would be close to the rx'd frequency you are listlistening to.

Re: inside or out

Posted: 07 Oct 2019, 13:34
by para999
hi 108EH002. firstly to the bleedover I did check the channels either side even on SSB but couldn't find it.on my set I can switch between steps of .010 and .005 I tried that and it was the same.now not being into ham radio I didn't know whether it was one of those being on a different frequency and using stronger power output.
at the moment it is still on the bee mount attached to the bracket but minus any pole, I have 2 pieces of wire hanging down from where the mount is attached to the bracket but as it is a temporary fix I havn't gone any further but from using it before I did manage to get some stations but alas not this time.
I am not too bothered about it at the moment because as I have said in one of my last posts the handyman is coming to attach it to the tv pole so it will be clear of any obstructions of either brickwork or roof.as it did work ( to an extent) on the outside before, being higher up again I'm hoping for an improvement.
to the question of using SSB yes I agree and that was what I was willing to try but collector didn't know what frequency he would be on because he didn't have a frequency counter at the time. the problem I have is I have so many channels on my SSB on sideband I would need to know the exact frequency he would be using.my set is a president grant premium export model with the mod done to allow UKFM to be available.i would be happy to try a shout on any channel SSB because as you rightly say it would be 12w.
as for the wire dipole yes only there isn't enough room as the whip will not stand up in the loft due to headroom.
I value your opinion but as I only have to wait a couple of weeks more I will leave things until I get it up ( oooh vicar) outside, at the moment.

Re: inside or out

Posted: 07 Oct 2019, 18:41
by The Collector
How about 11pm again tonight Danny on 27.395 USB (ch39 EU block...had to look that frequency up lol)?

I'll do the same again and see if it makes any difference at all.

I've been looking for 20ft alloy scaffold poles on ebay and local sites but there's nothing about at the moment. I dont fancy hoiking a steel one up from lying down with the Imax on top of it too on my own in the dark, especially as there's limited room and nowhere to foot it. That'd give me about other 10ft in height to what it is now, even if the pole's on the ground. It'll certainly show up more though so I ideally need some way of getting it up and down quickly but haven't got room (or a big-enough wallet) for a wind-up tilting tower thingy.

Edit: I remembered that "Clive" on here had a sectional wind-up mast on the For Sale board recently, but then I remembered he's Ludlow way which is hardly local to me in North Somerset. Shame.

Re: inside or out

Posted: 07 Oct 2019, 21:10
by para999
yes I will be there but to be honest I have about 2 sssh at this end.i can see the meter go up about 1 bar intermittently so obviously somebody's talking but can't hear a thing.

Re: inside or out

Posted: 07 Oct 2019, 21:49
by The Collector
You can get a little bit of signal change in the white noise anyway. It can also change due to the weather and other atmospheric conditions. It's all that's left of the "big bang" from billions of years ago. Local electronic equipment and interference can add to the mix sometimes too, from local BT hub wifi gizmos to crappy, cheap Chinese power supply plugs on computers etc.

Better go and get up in the loft then....

Re: inside or out

Posted: 07 Oct 2019, 22:06
by para999
I have shouted but to be honest I can't hear anybody.better leave it til a later date til it's on the mast and we can try again.
will get it out of the loft tomorrow, as obviously no good up there, and stick it in the bedroom window and have an earwig.

Re: inside or out

Posted: 07 Oct 2019, 22:09
by The Collector
It was strange tonight, had a fluttering, intermittent "signal" up to s5 on most of the blocks apart from the top half of UKFM. Never had that before. Bet some bugger round by me has upgraded their wifi or bought a new cheap laptop charger!

I heard nothing back if you tried TX'ing I'm afraid.

Never mind, it was only 10 minutes of my life wasted yet again PMSL ;)

Re: inside or out

Posted: 08 Oct 2019, 01:29
by 108EH002
The Collector wrote: 07 Oct 2019, 18:41 I ideally need some way of getting it up and down quickly but haven't got room (or a big-enough wallet) for a wind-up tilting tower thingy.

Edit: I remembered that "Clive" on here had a sectional wind-up mast on the For Sale board recently, but then I remembered he's Ludlow way which is hardly local to me in North Somerset. Shame.
My mate got a second-hand telescopic 33ft portable aluminium tower for £60,as they cost about £120 new.

Something like a second-hand aluminium LMA-L 33FT PORTABLE TELESCOPIC MAST might be more affordable,and will shorten to less than one of the sections of your Imax when down ;)

Re: inside or out

Posted: 08 Oct 2019, 01:53
by 108EH002
para999 wrote: 07 Oct 2019, 13:34 at the moment it is still on the bee mount attached to the bracket but minus any pole, I have 2 pieces of wire hanging down from where the mount is attached to the bracket
Maybe better if the wire was in a horizontal position instead of hanging down.

As for no space for a dipole in your loft = If you have your coax rising in the middle to the highest point of your loft,each leg of the dipole is roughly 8 1/4 - 8 1/2 ft long (depending if its horizontal/inverted),and they would sit at the angle of the pitch on the inside = one on each side sloping at an angle = looks like ^ (an upside down V) with your co-ax inner live wire connected to one leg,and outer braid earth wire connected to the other leg.

Or you can always run the wire dipole in a horizontal position the length of your loft under the apex,again with the co-ax feed being vertical = looks like a capital letter T.

You are not in any rush 999 and that's fair enough I get that,but surely you wouldn't have waited nearly 3 month getting a decent picture/sound on a tv you had purchased new,that was the same cost as you have spent on your new CB set-up so far ;)

Re: inside or out

Posted: 09 Oct 2019, 10:25
by para999
I see your point but talking about TV's is different entirely.tv's you can try before you buy. with CB you can't as firstly I don't know anybody who has one round here and secondly there are no cb shops round here.if I bought a tv with a poor signal I would pay to have a new aerial fitted,as aerial suppliers won't fit stuff they havn't supplied and they don't supply cb stuff I would be in the same boat.the money I have spent so far(aerial wise ) is because of advice I have been given ( I point out it wasn't on this forum ). to be honest if I had the chance to have tried beforehand I wouldn't have bothered because like many others I thought apart from frequency changes the whole cb'ing would be pretty similar to before legal cb.
it's not the cost, it's the fitting of stuff which is a problem, and without going into personal matters it's enough to say it's difficult for me.

Re: inside or out

Posted: 09 Oct 2019, 10:59
by 108EH002
para999 wrote: 09 Oct 2019, 10:25 to be honest if I had the chance to have tried beforehand I wouldn't have bothered because like many others I thought apart from frequency changes the whole cb'ing would be pretty similar to before legal cb.
Most folk who were on the CB homebase before,go back off after "returning" because their antenna is too small/ too low and they can't hear the closest stations who are now miles away..........not streets away = and others who are miles away simply can't hear them calling out because they only run 4w (low power) into a small antenna that's insufficient for modern HOMEBASE CB.

Your not the first and you wont be the last to have "gave up" and went back off again (hopefully not eh),all because they can't have a bigger antenna up in the air to enhance their radios overall performance.