First QSOs

Today was the first day I made contacts over the radio successfully.  I now know my previous failed attempts were a result of either a under-powered HT or the short in my mobile setup.  With short corrected I made my first contact headed to Jiffy Lube for an inspection on the 70cm (440Mhz) band.  We had a good chat and he turned out to be a string advocate for new HAMs and making sure they didn't abandon the hobby as a result of frustration.  He got my email from QRZ.com and sent some links about classes he teaches and a social media network project he is working on with a group that is designed to function purely over packet radio (no internet involved at all).

After the Jiffy Lube inspection and a chat with my wife I made contact with a fellow HAM on the 1.25m (220Mhz) band which the repeater was on an antenna just over 20 miles away from location (and I was driving further away).  This was a great test of the new Compactenna and 25W Radioddity QB25 quad-band radio I was using.  We maintained a conversation until I we descended down into a small valley and he reported my signal as too weak to continue.  I gave a 73 and called it a success.

Later during the night after listening to a couple of NETs (no I haven't participated in one yet) I was waiting for my daughter's youth group at our Church to let out and struck up a conversation with a gentleman on 2m (144Mhz) who had been a HAM for 50 years by his calculations.  We had a short conversation where he like all others congratulated me on becoming a HAM and hoped I enjoyed the hobby for years to come.

This wrapped up a good day with contacts on all three VHF/UHF bands and confirmation that the mobile setup was doing pretty good.

Compactenna Finally Working!

So as stated in my previous post I did configure a ground jumper from the NMO mount to the ground at the FireRing.  However in doing this I discovered I had a short when testing continuity on the setup.  Further testing  revealed a short inside the cabling conductor and the grounding sheath.  Luckily I had enough cable to simply cut it and this allowed me to switch from using the FireRing to a PL-259 connector on the end.  After continuity was successfully tested to have no shorts I was happy.  Below is the final outcome with a FireStik offset mounting plate I had previously.  Now I can simply get a NMO to 3/8-24 stud adapter like TRAMs 1295 when I need to switch to my CB radio.

Compactenna...Grounded?

Today didn't work out so well. I did receive my Compactenna Tri-Band (2m/1.25m/70cm) antenna for my vehicle. I was previously using a Tri-Band standard vertical whip, but it doesn't compare to the 7.5" Compactenna. However, I can receive all day long but after some testing it seems I'm unable to transmit. The most likely culprit is that my connection is comprised of the following:

• 1x Compactenna NMO mount (DXEngineering)
• 1x NMO to SO-239 adapter
• 1x PL-259 coupler
• 1x SO-239 to 3/8-24 stud mount
• 1x Firestik Fire-Ring. 

My understanding is that the NMO mount requires a ground and the Fire-Ring grounds out before the antenna (see "Fire-Ring to K-4 Stud Assembly below).  So I'm not clear if this can work. Is it possible that simply trying to extend ground from the NMO mount to the ground side of the Fire-Ring mount would solve the problem?  Guess we'll find out.  In case you're wondering why I'm keeping the Fire-Ring it's b/c I need the option to switch to my Midland CB and FireStik II 5/8λ antenna.

Day 1 of KO4BFT

So today is the day the FCC issued my call sign after passing my Technicians Exam on 11-JAN-2020.  As you can see from the title it is KO4BFT and I have yet to use it.  But I don't think that will take long.

This post is simply to mark the start of this adventure will detail radios, antenna and maybe even the creation of a HAM Shack.  Enjoy!