4 replies to this topic

[johnwillby]

Hi

I am in the uk and current started studying for my foundation license.

Cheers

John

[Shortwave]

johnwillby, on 10 March 2010 - 09:20 AM, said:

Hi

I am in the uk and current started studying for my foundation license.

Cheers

John

Hiya John

Welcome to the forum!

I had a look around the web to check out your IC-2700h radio. It's quite a rare beastie from what I can see. I don't remember seeing one before that's for sure.

Good luck with your Foundation License exam!

If you need any questions answered about what your learning, or just radio related questions in general, then do please ask away. That's what we're here for!

Don't forget to give us a mention among your friends, the more the merrier they say


Best 73, Mark.

[johnwillby]

G0KZZ, on 13 March 2010 - 12:32 AM, said:

Hiya John

Welcome to the forum!

I had a look around the web to check out your IC-2700h radio. It's quite a rare beastie from what I can see. I don't remember seeing one before that's for sure.

Good luck with your Foundation License exam!

If you need any questions answered about what your learning, or just radio related questions in general, then do please ask away. That's what we're here for!

Don't forget to give us a mention among your friends, the more the merrier they say


Best 73, Mark.

Hiya,

I think it was not a particularly popular option as most people would have opted for a dual bander (my intention too when I have bought a base station unit and a new CB and ...). I aim to get a dual bander for the car and keep this one in the 4x4 as I do a bit of off roading so it needs to be robust and cheap.

I got it cheap from a pawnbroker (£45) who sold it as seen as he did not have a clue if it worked or not. The only thing wrong with it is when first switched on then you have to switch it off and back on again before the mic works. Only thing I don't have for it is a mobile mic holder and a bracket (but managed to adapt a icom marine bracket one I got off Ebay for £2.50 plus P&P!).

I have a watson 770hb aerial.

Best 73

John

[Shortwave]

johnwillby, on 13 March 2010 - 07:28 AM, said:

Hiya,

I think it was not a particularly popular option as most people would have opted for a dual bander (my intention too when I have bought a base station unit and a new CB and ...). I aim to get a dual bander for the car and keep this one in the 4x4 as I do a bit of off roading so it needs to be robust and cheap.

I got it cheap from a pawnbroker (£45) who sold it as seen as he did not have a clue if it worked or not. The only thing wrong with it is when first switched on then you have to switch it off and back on again before the mic works. Only thing I don't have for it is a mobile mic holder and a bracket (but managed to adapt a icom marine bracket one I got off Ebay for £2.50 plus P&P!).

I have a watson 770hb aerial.

Best 73

John

Hi again John

£45 is a pretty good price for what you have there. The antenna you mention (Watson 770B) is one that I have too, and I must admit that for the price they cannot be beaten.

When I came to set my antenna up on the car the SWR was low on 2m but about 2.5:1 or worse on 70cm. After checking the system with an antenna analyser I noticed that either side of 70cm the SWR was low, so I reasoned that I was seeing the result of an unwanted phase shift on the coaxial feeder of the antenna mount I was using.

After shortening the cable by about three inches I had a nice 1:1 SWR on 70cm and 2m was still 1:1 too.

I've also experimented with a mini-mag antenna and found that although very small the antenna also performs well.

It's good to see that you adapted a bracket, adaption and improvisation are the marks of 'real' Radio Amateurs! Much better than just buying 'off the shelf' items, and way more satisfying!

73 for now, Mark.

[johnwillby]

G0KZZ, on 17 March 2010 - 10:21 PM, said:

Hi again John

£45 is a pretty good price for what you have there. The antenna you mention (Watson 770B) is one that I have too, and I must admit that for the price they cannot be beaten.

When I came to set my antenna up on the car the SWR was low on 2m but about 2.5:1 or worse on 70cm. After checking the system with an antenna analyser I noticed that either side of 70cm the SWR was low, so I reasoned that I was seeing the result of an unwanted phase shift on the coaxial feeder of the antenna mount I was using.

After shortening the cable by about three inches I had a nice 1:1 SWR on 70cm and 2m was still 1:1 too.

I've also experimented with a mini-mag antenna and found that although very small the antenna also performs well.

It's good to see that you adapted a bracket, adaption and improvisation are the marks of 'real' Radio Amateurs! Much better than just buying 'off the shelf' items, and way more satisfying!

73 for now, Mark.

Hi

I had not thought of that! How does that work then?

I have a home made cable because it needs to be fed around the roof rack and down the side of the snorkel etc...

But to be fair I bought an already made up 5M watson cable to do an install on the car. I tried that and it made no difference to the SWR.

However on the negative side I get a fairly high SWR on the CB (2:1) on the 4X4 too which has a similar size cable.

Just a thought... should I be earthing out the cases on the Icom and the CB?

73's

John