Picked this up from Harbor Freight on sale for about $30 bucks – YAY Me! . . .
I just need to fit a couple of more things in it – batteries and another cable or two and a reel type antenna – then it’s no longer wrap radios in towels and jam them in a duffel bag – how I’ve managed to drag radio “stuff” around for this long and have managed NOT to screw something up I’ll never know – Just Lucky??
Now how to get a decent antenna along for the ride? For size /weight/performance the MLA 30+ is a good choice – unwieldy and needs to be more or less put “together” right to be utilized effectively – and yet still transportable and easy to use . . .
Taken apart the antenna doesn’t take up a lot of room . . .
The setup shown below is a little large to be put in a small duffel bag and more importantly the individual has gotten away from the loop shape – and it does make a performance difference . . .
The diagram shows you the reception vs null aspects – which allows you to turn the antenna to increase signal and or decrease noise by positioning it . . .
I’ve tried a couple of different things – yard sticks – small wooden dowels – and none of them are simple and or sturdy – so it’s on to 1/2 inch pvc pipe – this looks promising . . .
Don’t get too critical – first rough – I emphasize rough – prototype . . .
Goes together / comes apart with no tools – the pipe is a simply held in the 4-way by friction – possibly will be pinned together in the final form . . .
Velcro works pretty good to hold the amplifier on the pipe – maybe washers on the bolts (?) to keep the antenna in place and nylock nuts on everything – a coupling on the bottom pipe to another 12 inch piece of pipe set into some type of base so the antenna can be rotated to get to a sweet spot – signal strength vs noise . . .
And if you are going to play with pvc pipe? – trot your happy ass to Lowes and pick up a pair of these – beats the fire out of a hacksaw!
And 2 minor projects that have combined and evolved into a somewhat major project is in the parts gathering stage . . .
I was going to just stick a piece of uni-strut up to hang a long wire to a tree and stick an ML 30+ oriented in an East/West axis – compromise to say the least – but out of the blob of RFI that’s in the house. So I went to DXEngineering to pick up some uv resistant paracord and found this on clearance/sale . . .
The CHAMELEON ANTENNA CHA RXL Receive Loop RXL-USA – – I know – I said I wasn’t going to spend $500 plus monies on an antenna – BUT – the chameleon is a lot more directional – the nulls are deeper – and it’s on sale – so I’m like “sure, why not?”- I told my Blushing Bride look at all the money I saved YOU! – she was NOT impressed – LOL!
And since this needs to be turned to the sweet spot . . .
And the uni-strut idea got upgraded to a 12 foot 4×4 post anchored in the corner of the deck – not really going to hang a rotator on a piece of uni-strut – I think the term I’m looking for is “project creep” . . .
Got the basics gathered up for the long wire antenna – it will end up at about 57 feet – plenty enough length to gather a lot of signal and it will be essentially omnidirectional – they don’t really start showing directional bias until you get to a 100 foot or longer . . .
All of this from wanting to stick an MLA30+ outside to get away from noise in the house – well I might as well put up a long wire – well I’ll put up a much better performing loop – well – down the rabbit hole I go – I’ll let you know when I see Alice . . . Soviet reasoning – 1 or 2 deaths tragic – 8 or 9 million? – acceptable – LMOA! – a few for you – all upper side band – 8992 – 11175 – 15016 – and down the rabbit hole we go again . . .
Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!
Guns, Fun, Food and More 