goes along with 'i need 3 volunteers. you, you, annnnd.... you!' (pointing). or sneaking it into your 'buddy's' pack.
Still have my FT-817 original. Use it mostly for digital but I got it for emergency use as it will run on a UPS battery for several weeks without recharging.
Anyone else seem to notice there's a major lack of antenna winder spool designs? I just tried to hunt down one all last month.... I van across I think 4 designs total across paracord, kites, and antenna arenas and none of them were long and narrow... All of them were short and stubby or too wide, etc I dont know about yous guys but I prefer tall and slim type winder spools so I have less kinks in my wire and its just easier without dealing with a ton of extra turns. Less turns means less twisting because its easier to wind up long lengths. And fast because of ratio. More wire per turn. The closest I found was an extension cord winder spool but those at too big... And ham radio specific was way over priced and still not what i was looking for. Hobby specific pricing stinks.. Wire: $20 Ham Radio Wire: $90 Ham radio Wire specifically for one ham radio model: $130 Its like fly fishing gear. Fly fishing scissors are JUST marked up regular scissors. I saw the exact same $4 scissors I use to trim my nose hairs sold for $25 just because it was "for fly fishing". Same with forceps. It'd rather buy a spool of wire. You dont need special strong fancy wire for antennas. Well copper clad steel is better for long term dipoles so they dont stretch, But for QRP and in the field... Nah.
Consider 3d printing one. There are multiple downloadable designs on Thingverse.com. If you don't have a printer, I've recently learned local libraries sometimes do. I recently printed a QRP EFHW transformer housing at my local branch for free (check the "how did you radio today" thread from a couple days ago for pics). I buy my "regular" wire at hardware stores or Amazon. The latter is great for getting very thin gauge stranded wire (just ordered 100' of 30awg wire for use in a portable antenna). I'm a fly fisherman too. I know exactly what you mean. It's made worse in hobbies where the participants are assumed to have money (fly fishing, cars, amateur radio, etc). Chris
It's made worse in hobbies where the participants are assumed to have money (fly fishing, cars, amateur radio, etc). visiting 'gentlemen's clubs'......i've heard they cater to an exclusive clientele. they even require a t-shirt. i'd never get in.
Blaspheme for sure, I take my Mountain Topper MTR4b and a length of cheap old wire and have as much fun making CW contacts, less weight powered by a pocket radio 9 volt battery . If I could afford the $1,300 I would have the butler pack it to summit for me.
Beating a dead horse maybe buuuuuut,,,, I bought 4 100 spools of 14 gauge wire off Amazon for $0.10 per foot ($41) and three kite string winders for $11. I made the antenna 33 foot and “optimized” three elevated counterpoise wires for 40, 20 and 10. I have a whole mess of wire left over for future projects. Guess what!?!?! it works beautifully aaaaaand if you total the cost of my material ($52) it’s a significant savings with plenty of wire left over to use for fly fishing if I want lol
33 and 66 feet together you get 90 so assume that covers full band counterpoise would be 1/4 wavelength of lowest band you working these ca be grouped I assume. Various configurations migiht need adjustments to lengths but check if tuner can tune it. Should be able to tune a wet noodle
