VHF / UHF

VHF / UHF Station

Home Setup

[70 cms] [2 Metres] [4 Metres] [6 Metres] [Mobile]

EI9IW station layout, 24-Sep-2000. Click for more detail.

My main rig is the Yaesu FT-736R, upgraded with the Mutek modifications, which were factory fitted at the time I purchased the radio. The 6M module is also installed, but this is an unmodified Yaesu module. For FM work I use a dual-band colinear fed with Westflex 103, which is at about 6M above ground level. This is quite low, but works reasonably well. For two metres, a single 11 element Tonna beam sits below the colinear, and is also fed with Westflex 103. I was worried that this might be too low to be useful, but I'm more confident following a recent contact with F6APE using 25 watts. Admittedly his 17 element antenna and 300 watts helped a lot! The azimuth rotator is a Yaesu G-450RC. Click the picture for further details.

Feeder loss is a little under 1dB @ 144MHz, which is acceptable.

An Ampere 80W solid state linear is also available. This does not have a PTT line, and will be replaced with something better just as soon as I start using 2M SSB enough to justify it. Although it claims to provide 80W out for 10W in, it only seems to provide about 60W at most.

70 centimetres

Unfortunately I had to discard my DX antennae for this band when I moved from a previous QTH. At that time I used a pair of 6.7 wavelength (21 ele) Tonna's, vertically stacked, and driven by a 100W Tokyo Hi-Power linear. 70cms is without a doubt my favourite band, so I hope to be QRV with a decent setup but will probably have to wait until 2001 or 2002.

Calculated feeder loss to the top of my current VHF/UHF mast is slightly over 1.5dB @ 432MHz, which is just acceptable.

6 Metres

The FT-736R drives the Diamond CP-6 HF and 6M vertical via a combination of Westflex 103 and RG58. Obviously the RG58 is totally unsuitable for 6M, and isn't great on the higher HF bands, so this will be replaced when I get a spare moment. A Microwave Modules 100W linear is also available, and will be put back into service as soon as I get around to making up the patch leads. This antenna is shared between the FT-1000MP and the FT-736RDX, which means it's always plugged into the wrong rig. I have an old Dee-Comm 6M vertical sitting in the shed, which will be erected at the opposite end of the back garden to the CP-6. This will solve the problem of frantically scrambling behind the rigs to change aerials. An added benefit will be the ability to string the half size G5RV between the tops of the two antennae, thus doubling its height.

The total feeder length to the CP-6 is 35M, giving a calculated loss of 0.7dB @ 50MHz, assuming Westflex 103 is used for the entire run. Taking the RG58 section into account increases the loss to 2.45dB, which is significant, to say the least!

4 Metres

Although I have the equipment, and license, for this band I don't currently use it. This mainly because I haven't erected an antenna, but also due to limitations of the ex-PMR radio, which is a little deaf, and the lack of local activity. EI7FAB and EI3IX will both be QRV on 4M shortly, so I may well dust off the 70MHz gear and put yet more metal into the air by the end of 2000.

I (don't) use a Nova 80 channel synthesised radio for this band, configured as 40 FM channels and 40 AM channels. This can be seen on the middle shelf in the picture, to the right of the FT-1000MP, and sitting under a Trio BC-6 fast charger for a TH-41E. The Nova provides 45W output from a 12V supply. I have a 4M halo and vertical sitting in the shed, both supplied by Dee-Comm, and unused since the move from a previous QTH.

Mobile Setup

I use a Yaesu FT8100R dual band FM transceiver in the car. Although I have the remote front panel kit for this, I found it easier to leave the panel attached to the rig body. The car is a 1997 Ford Escort which, like all modern cars, is a bit of a pain when it comes to fitting rigs. My solution was to remove the cassette storage tray, from between the broadcast radio and the ashtray, and drill down through the ash tray to support the rig bracket. This allows the ash tray drawer to be opened, and the cigar lighter socket to be used. If I ever sell the car, replacing the cassette tray is easy. Power is taken from the feed to the cigar lighter. The handbook shows this circuit as fused at 15A, and shared with the car radio and dashboard clock. An Ericsson hands free car kit for a mobile phone is also on this circuit. Obviously a direct feed to the battery would have been preferred, but I wasn't keen on drilling through the bulkhead into the engine compartment.

An external speaker is mounted underneath the the gear lever shroud, which has a convenient grill formed by the coin storage slots behind the lever. The speaker is just wedged in place, but the audio is a little muffled. I plan to improve the speaker mounting at some point, and hopefully install a second speaker to be plugged into the FT8100's UHF audio output.

A Sirio Hi-Power 2070R dual band antenna is fitted to a Watson hatch back mount. I'm not happy with the mount, as I'd prefer something which could handle a larger aerial. Ideally I'd like a heavy duty hatch back mount that could comfortably take my dual band Watson W-7900. This is a very solid, heavy antenna with a tilt-over base. I've tried it fitted to a 150mm mag-mount, but there's a noticeable deflection of the car roof just from lightly pushing the aerial with a finger.