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KB9WWQ









Hello, and welcome to my amateur radio station page.   Name is Jay and QTH is Rhinelander, Wisconsin.   Rhinelander is in north central Wisconsin, about 180 miles due north from the state capitol of Madison.

I've been a licensed ham since August of 2000, but my interests in radio and electronics go back to about 1963.  Back then I started listening to hams from around the world on an old Hallicrafters S-38 that I got as a birthday gift and just about any piece of wire that would stay up in the trees for a day or two.

Now the primary piece of gear is a Kenwood TS-820S that a friend, AD6UI, donated as an incentive to get the license.  Other items that hold my interest are a couple of military pieces, BC-458-A & CBY-46106, (ARC-5 family) that I've had kicking around for a long time.    The balance of the odds and ends are all home-brew, excepting for a few pieces of test gear and a lap-top computer I use for the AF(soundcard) modes.

The antennas are in a state of constant flux, although the mainstay, a multi-band dipole, has seen most of the others come and go.    It's a five band, 80 through 10 meter, constructed in a "spider-web" or "fan" configuration.    My lot is only 50' by 120', and the useful antenna trees are limited.   As such, I had to let the ends of the 80 meter legs drop straight down, 8 feet on one end and 16 on the other.   
80 meter EH antenna

80 Meter EH Antenna

The remainder of the antenna is at anywhere from 30 to 34 feet off the ground.    I also like to experiment with different antenna configurations and concepts. Among them was a 20 meter Moxon Rectangle (which worked quite well, even though it was only 10 feet off the ground) and a few vertical dipoles.   I have also experimented with some crossed-field antennas, and with a few EH* antennas which I still have in use.     The EH antennas (80, 40, 15, and 10 meters) can be set up just about anywhere.    I've had the 10, 15, and 40 meter versions (also 20 M crossed-field) working indoors.     Shown at the left, the 80 meter version is a total of 50 inches tall.    The lowest point is about 15 feet off the ground.    A portion of the dipole is also visible.

* There is a "tiny" bit of controversy regarding the EH antenna.    I believe they work, but not in the manner claimed by its inventor.    Some claim that the antenna only acts to make the feed line radiate.    There is much documentation, although mostly qualitative, at the EH-Antenna.com website.    If you visit the website, you will find usefull information about the construction and a basis for the theory behind the antenna.    However, you will also find some concepts to be completely "off-the-wall" (not necessarily a bad thing) and some completely wrong concepts which only serve to diminish the antenna's credibility.    Try not to let this deter you from the basic function of the EH antenna, which is that of an exteemly small antenna when compared to wavelength.    Build one for yourself, then decide.

More to follow as time and knowledge permit.

  Construction Zone Ahead  

"The oxen are slow, but the Earth is patient."




A few links that may be useful...

QSL.net_Home ARRL_Home FCC Universal Licensing System
eQSL Card Home Page

this page has been accidentially visited by     folks since 07/29/01



last upated 26OCT09