I suggest it is kept above 7.175 so that U.S. general class licensees can participate.

Oh thoooose photos...? They're nothing. Actually, they're the same photos. I just tried inserting them another way, using the insert image option above. I obviously don't know what I'm doing when it comes to using forums. Don't tell anybody else, but this is the only online forum I frequent.  :-X

photos from last post are now visible.  :)

Thanks Bob!
I'll definitely look into the rope. I've often though about buying a Par EndFedz but $85 for a piece of wire and transformer is fine for people who don't have the time to build their own but for someone like me who likes to spend evenings building things I've never been able to justify spending the money. I've also thought about building my own. Perhaps I will one of these day.

One of the things I like about linked antennas is that I don't have to deploy all 66 feet of it if I just want to work 20 meters. That's why I make my linked antennas with s-clips instead of permanent strain reliefs. Sometimes I have to set up in very restricted spaces and it's a struggle to just get 20 meters operational. I want to stick to wire antennas because there is no way I'm taking a buddipole or magloop in the Cessna 206 when I'm telling the pax that they have to limit their luggage to 20 lbs each.

Here is one of the places I operated from during a trip to Baja California.

Good suggestion Gil. I saw those traps on their website. If I put another order in with them I think I'll get a couple of those and play with them.

QuoteThis box is for anywhere, any way you want...

Thanks Gil. This is what I was shooting for. Glad to hear that you think I've succeeded.

The biggest compromise is that I can't fit a wire winder in it and both the AC charger for the internal battery and an external battery pack but I was really tryin to make it as small as I could and still offer sufficient protection. Winding the wire on my hand seems to work pretty well and I'm getting a small 11 volt Lipo battery that I hope will fit with the AC charger so I think it's a worthwhile sacrifice overall.

The pictures are here ya'll. Sorry bout dat.

I wanted one multi band antenna inside the box. I will make up an antenna for other bands soon but that will have to go on winder outside of the box. Or I might just cut the 20 meter length at the 17 meter mark and add just one more link to this wire. The Sotabeams tuner doesn't do 15 meters so for the moment there's no point in making an EFHW for that band.

I wind the wire on my hand for winderless tangle free wire that fits inside the box.

I bought the s-clips, ferrules, and bullet connectors on eBay for cheap. The 22 awg wire is from Sotabeams as is the paracord.

It doesn't seem to need a counterpoise to get the SWR down to nothing on the HB-1B's SRW indicator. I've made contacts with this by pulling my car over on the side of the road and pulling the wire through low branches and bushes just over my head. It's goes up and comes down in under 5 minutes.

I wanted a bullet proof go box for my HB-1B. A way I could throw it into whatever car I was driving, or take camping, boating, traveling, or wherever. I wanted it to be small and transportable and have everything I need inside of the one box. The one-size fits all approach always ends in compromises and this is no exception. This is what I've finally gotten assembled.

Pelican 1150 case.
HB-1B
Sotabeams EFHW Tuner

Usually I have the AC charger in top space but when camping or for SOTA I can replace it with an external battery pack for more runtime off grid.

Under the tuner is a QRP Guys paddle, earbuds, 3ft of RG-174, power cable for external battery, small bungees.

Under the radio is 50ft of paracord, s-clips, EFHW linked wire for 20, 30, 40 meters.

Back at ya.

There is a handful of repeaters in my area but NONE OF THEM HAVE BACKUP POWER! Ham radio here is purely a hobby for people. Emcomm is non-existent. I have some two meter rigs. A mobile in both cars and a couple of HTs which I keep in the cars along with a role up J-pole and some paracord. With these I can extend my range beyond that of the rubber duck by pulling the antenna into a tree or lamppost. I have a two meter at home as well, feeding a vertical dipole on the roof about 27 feet up. With this setup I can talk to my wife at home up to about 10 miles from the house.
What I'd like to do is set up my own repeater, that of course would have backup power. It's purpose would just be to let me and my wife communicate between the house and town until the one in town could get home, so a short term repeater would serve. A simplex repeater would be the easiest and least expensive to set up and would work okay for this purpose. 
I have a DTMF decoder which can close a relay when it detects the correct code. I plan to use this to ring a loud bell that could be heard anywhere in the house. A sort of makeshift phone ringer.

I just had a QSO with a french station on 14.040. If he's actually in france then the band must be open as he gave me a good RST and i'm running 100W into an inverted v OCF dipole.

QuoteMy most puzzling contact was 200mi on 11m..

We pretend that all this is understandable through science but in reality it's all magic. Therein lies the draw.

I think you're right Bob. I do plan on doing a lot more tests. I don't have any trips to the mountains planned in the near future so my next test will be another local one. This time though I will be going east out of our valley and putting a 1000 foot mountain ridge between me and the house. I would think that even at only 10 miles, ground wave at 4 watts would have trouble getting over that.

Hi Gil. My 2 meter antenna is on the same pole as my inverted vee dipole, about a foot or two above the dipole's apex. I've never tried a 2 meter contact between our houses because 2 meters has always died out about 4 miles shy of his house, about the time I start to get into town. If it weren't for all the buildings in town I think the 2 meters would go a little further.