Last year, I made a significant purchase at Dayton—my 150 MHz Siglent oscilloscope. This year, I didn’t really buy anything, though not for lack of trying. I was looking for two things: a hex beam and a GPS-disciplined, 10 MHz oscillator.
I was disappointed and kind of surprised that there were only two hex beam manufacturers there: Vibroplex, that sells Spider Beams, and RadioWavs. I also wanted to get a look at the K4KIO, NA4RR, and SP7IDX hex beams, as they’ve all gotten such good reviews on the hex-beam mailing list. Based on the reviews there, I’ll probably go with either the K4KIO or the NA4RR antenna.
I was also looking for a 10 MHz, GPS-disciplined oscillator. It would be really nice to have an accurate frequency source in my shack, and I actually had a good use for one a couple of weeks ago when Thom, W8TAM, brought over a couple of Chinese frequency counters he’d purchased. I didn’t find one there, but not finding one wasn’t as surprising as not finding more hex beams.
There are quite a few options. Force12 has started selling a GPS-disciplined oscillator (GPSDO) made in the U.K. It looks like a nice unit, but it costs $226. There are some used Trimble Thunderbolt units available on eBay for about $150. And if you Google “GPS disciplined oscillator” you’ll find a number of homebrew solutions. I may opt for the easy thing here and purchase the unit from Force12.
If you have an opinion on either hex beams or GPSDOs, please feel free to weigh in here or e-mail me directly.
Aside from that, I was able to find a Bencher BY-1 in the flea market for $50. It doesn’t look like it’s been used for quite a while, and the plug was wired backwards (i.e. the tip was connected to the dah contact, not the dit contact), so I’m not sure how much it was ever used. This evening, I rewired the plug and adjusted the contacts, so it’s ready for the next user.
I also purchased the book, Getting Started with Amateur Satellites, by G. Gould Smith, WA4SXM, published by AMSAT. Oddly enough, this book isn’t yet listed for sale in the AMSAT store, but I imagine that if you contact them, they’ll sell you a copy. The cost is $20.
The book purchase was triggered by my befuddlement at the ARROW Antenna booth. I wanted to buy an antenna to try to work some satellites, but they offer about a dozen different hand-held antennas for satellite work, and I just didn’t know what to get. They were really busy, too, and I didn’t feel like waiting around, so that I could ask them some questions. Perhaps after reading the book and perusing the ARROW website, which has a number of instructional articles and videos, I’ll be able to figure out what to get.
Koos van den Hout PE4KH says
From the point of view of an Arrow Antenna fan it’s a good thing they are very busy. I would guess they can help you via e-mail if needed. I once had a question about shipping costs and got a usable answer very fast.
Dan KB6NU says
I think it’s a good thing that they were busy, too. There’s a lot of interest in working the satellites!
Paul Stoetzer N8HM says
I’ll be updating the store this weekend to add the new merchandise, including the new 2016 Getting Started book.
Alan says
And the Getting Started author is G. Gould Smith, not Bob Gould.
As for Arrow antennas, you want the 146/437-10. The 146/437-14 adds a bit of extra gain, but gets heavy very quickly due to the extra length during a long pass. :)
Dan KB6NU says
Oppps. How did I make that mistake. Bob Gould, of course, is the “Bob” of the Bob and Ray comedy team. It’s fixed now.
Thanks for the advice on the antenna.
Dave New, N8SBE says
There were discussions on the Elecraft mailing list after they introduced an interface to the K3 that would let you use a GPSDO to steer the local oscillator. This is important for long term stability for use with UHF and higher transverters, which are popular with the Elecraft crowd, and also for the more fussy digital modes on the HF bands.
Go to the Elecraft main site, and click on the mailing lists link. You can search the mailing list threads from there.
I’ve been interested in getting a GPSDO myself, but it’s been low on my priority list, especially because my station is in the basement, and I haven’t figured out an easy way to get a clear view of the sky from there for use with a GPS thingy.
Dan KB6NU says
I’ve just ordered one of the Leo Bodnar GPSDOs, but I ordered it from Airspy.US, not Force12. It was the same price, but since I heard the proprietor of Airspy.Us talk about it on the HamRadio360 podcast, I decided to buy it from Airspy instead.
Thomas Martin, w8tam says
Dave,
The GPSDO Airspy.US is selling looks to have a SMA connector on the back for the antenna. You could simply route the antenna outside.
73
Dan KB6NU says
That’s exactly what I plan to do.
Arun Kumar W8ARU says
I have been using a GPSDO for over 5 years now and it is located in my basement with an indoor antenna. The unit is from Trimble (eBay $50 years back) and it seems do do pretty fine. It is powered off a set of 2 batteries which are trickle charged and it hasn’t been shut down ever. Signal strength received is enough to produce a stable 10MHz reference. I will be getting a K3 interface so will let you know how this performs with my 10GHz Avenger downconverter. Photographs of the installation available via email. I will send the info to you, Dan.