Thread: HF radio difficulties

sorry prob no help at all..but we have a realy good coden guy here in Bris... maybe send it over...PM me if you want any details


Mrs hh

Had a couple of business cards from Perth after I had somw coden problems last year, one guy who I ended up getting another second hand set off builds areials on a comercial basis, recomended by a guy in brissie who I purchased my first set off (ebay seller), I also dealt with a coden dealer I found in the yellow pages (2nd hand outo tune), all were exremely helpful. I did a post in this section somewhere with references to the business involved. Shame I cant find the business cards, will keep looking
cheers
blaze

If the radio is for emergency use you can easily have a long line made up - just a piece of 50 ohm coax one end with a UHF connector into the back of the radio and the other end connected to a length of cable (say 10 meters long) which is thrown over a tree branch. You also require a good earth (ground plane) such as an earth stake or farmers fence. That is if your radio is tunable and not a relay output unit.

We used this method years ago when our aerial failed.

I now carry a tuned length Di-pole as an emergency spare.


It is surprising how far you can communicate in the right conditions.


Erich

drop out to the broome airfield and talk to some of the aircraft engineers there, someone there should be able to help you. most aircraft out that way will have hf, so they may have a radio tech there.

what ineed to look at is the antenna in action as it doesnt tune consistantltly therefore receiving and transmitting is sporadic. when last working the contact with alice spings was hampered by a large storm. the codan people have no knowlegde of anyone in broome and so i will be hoping to find some one soonish instead of waiting until i get all the way to perth. at least we made our way through central aus. in the company of others with working hf's and sat phones!

Hi, you were saying the radio became erratic after it got wet.

If your aerial is similar to the one in the pic below, there is an O ring seal at the very top of the auro tune section, accssible only from the inside. These rarely give trouble.





Most ofter moisture or condensation is drawn in through the plugs themselves. I seal mine with self amalgamating tape to minimise this.

Also there is a trick in getting the lower section off the base - one of the plugs hides an aerial fixing screw in behind it.

Erich

i have also sealed the antenna connections with the same tape from the beginning . today we found that the raio end of the coax cable wasnt completelt tight and some insulation had worked loose.it now tunes but when transmitting it detunes so more ivestigation and hope a place here in broome can help. it has been a waste of time and money so far as it hasnt worked when off the beaten track and whereever we have stopped there hasnt been anyone that fixes hf. i can see a wait of a few more months until i get to perth and find a codan outlet.

sounds like ours never been able to get it going since we bought it second hand