ECR Newsletter

December 19, 2022

IT'S BEEN A WHILE - By Michael K2SHF

Hello there, boys and girls. I just wanted to thank everyone for his and her patience during the Newsletter hiatus. I have moved from New York to Maryland, and anybody who has moved knows what an arduous task it is. I'm finally starting to get settled here, although I have plenty more to do including getting my radios set up. For now, I have an HT and my Allstar node to keep me on the air.

Christmastime is here, and what a magical time of the year it is. However, please keep in mind that this is not a happy time of the year for everyone. Many folks out there fall into depressions, and suicides statistically go up. So if you know somebody that might be having a hard time this Christmas season, please reach out to him or her. I know it would go a long way. Some people just need to know that somebody in this world is thinking of them. Invite people that you would usually not think of for Christmas dinner or lunch some other day. And I wish a very Merry Christmas (or happy Hanukkah) to you all.

Please remember the ECR hosts a 40 meter net on Saturdays at 10AM Eastern Time on or around 7245 KHz LSB. Dick WB2JPQ and Tom KE3GK are the main net controllers, and I know they are always looking for help in running the net. I haven't had the pleasure of joining for the past month since I currently have no HF equipment set up, but I have heard from several people that it has been a lot of fun.

Also, don't forget about the Second Cup, which is a net that runs right after the Morning Brew on one random day each week. Lucca KD2YHZ, one of our youth hams, has been helping out with net control duties and he is doing an excellent job. The purpose of this net is to reach out to new hams, youth, operators that might be afraid to press the PTT button, and those who have missed the Morning Brew.

And finally, we sure could use some writers for the Newsletter. You do not need to be a professional writer or even be good at it! I'm happy to edit spelling and grammer for publication. And articles do not need to be of any particular length. If three lines gets your point across, then that works for me. If you have any interest in helping out (no commitment required), please email me. I'm good on QRZ.

ECR BIRTHDAYS

The following hams are celebrating a birthday over the next two weeks. Happy Birthday to you all!

W2DLL, Dana of Buffalo NY, has a birthday on December 20th
AE4BT, Curtis of Johnson City TN, has a birthday on December 28th
N2ZDU, Joe of North Tonawanda NY, has a birthday on December 29th

Would you like your birthday recognized in the Newsletter and on the air during the Tech Net? Just send an email to Michael, K2SHF, with your callsign and birthdate. Your birthday will then be added to our spreadsheet.

MORNING BREW Q&A - By Michael K2SHF

Every morning on the Brew, we ask the participants a question-of-the-day. Here are some of the answers we have gotten. I have only included answers with two or more responses.

Q: Are you more of a fix-it-yourself or call-an-expert kind of person?
A: Fix It Yourself 48 | Call An Expert 6 | Both 14

Q: Do you do any volunteer work around the holidays (or throughout the year)?
A: Yes 41 | No 17

Q: Who will you root for in the big game? Army or Navy?
A: Army 25 | Navy 33 | Don't Care 3

Q: Do you wear a hat?
A: Yes 57 | No 6 | Sometimes 8 | In the Wintertime 2

Q: Do you use your barbeque in the winter?
A: Yes 52 | No 22

THE ANTENNA FARM - By Charles KC6UFM

Part 17 – Parasitic Elements: The Three and Four Element Yagi

Hello ECR Family, and welcome to The Antenna Farm. This is your friendly Antenna Farmer Charles, KC6UFM.

In Part 15 of The Antenna Farm, we looked at some of the theory of operation and history of the Yagi antenna, as well as some details on how dipoles work and radiate. Part 16 expanded our Yagi concept to a two-element design by adding either a DIR or REF to the basic dipole. This part will look at how the addition of more parasitic elements (DIR) impacts the operation and performance of the Yagi antenna and expand the forward lobe while reducing the side and back lobes.

It is assumed that you have read and—more importantly—understood the information presented in Parts 15 and 16. You may wish to have Parts 15 and 16 open in other windows so you can refer back to them from time to time.

Again, I would strongly encourage you to follow along and build these models in EZNEC or some other antenna modeling software.

For the expanded models in this article, we will be starting with the “standard” Yagi as described in Part 16, that is, a single DE with a single REF element. For the sake of simplicity, we will be adding only more DIR elements, though, as you learned in Part 16, you can manipulate the antenna impedance by selectively adding either REF or DIR elements as needed. Also, again to keep things simple, we will not make any attempts here to optimize the Yagi design, though you can tailor things like the forward gain, FB Ratio, and FS Ratio as needed for a specific installation by changing element length and the relative spacing between elements. Just remember that the Yagi cannot create energy...it can only focus it in different directions.

The Three Element Yagi

As expected, as you move lower in frequency, the size of the Yagi increases. For no other reason than practical limits of size, most Yagi antennas for use below about 20m will be either two or three elements. We have already looked at a two element Yagi with a DE and a single REF element in Part 16. Now, we’re going to add a DIR to that design to create a three element Yagi.

(Click here for full size image)

Figure 1 shows the EZNEC inputs needed for this antenna. You will note that Wire 1 (the DE) is still 992mm long, Wire 2 (our REF) is 1017mm, and Wire 3 (the DIR) is 904mm. The spacing between the REF and DE as well as between the DE and DIR are all 257mm. The feed point (source) is still at the 50% point on Wire 1. In other words, this is exactly the same as the “Traditional” Yagi from Part 16 plus a DIR.

(Click here for full size image)

Figure 2 is the basic view of our three element Yagi. Note that the DE (center element, Wire 1) has the feed point at its center, the REF (right-most element, Wire 2) is slightly longer than the DE, and the DIR (left-most element, Wire 3) is slightly shorter than the DE. You’ll recall that because of the interactions between the various EM fields, the direction of maximum radiation will be along a line starting at the REF and moving to the left, passing through the DE and on to the DIR.

(Click here for full size image)

Figure 3 is the SWR plot of our new three element Yagi. You will note that the SWR is lower than that of the “Traditional” two element Yagi from Part 16, but there is now a slight curve being introduced to the plot. Recall that adding a DIR will cause the capacitive reactance to increase. In the “Traditional” two element Yagi, we had a complex impedance of 33.2 + j38.54 ohms. Looking in the lower left corner of Figure 3, you find that the complex impedance of our new three element Yagi is 21.72 - j3.534 ohms. In other words, the actual resistance fell by about a third, but the reactance shifted dramatically to the capacitive side. The net effect is that we have a somewhat lower resistance and the reactance is closer to j0 than with the “Traditional” two element design, so the SWR will appear lower with the three element antenna. This is a good thing! We can easily transform the lower resistance for matching purposes (50 ohm unbalanced feed line to a 22 ohm balanced antenna...a 2:1 balun would get us VERY close) and safely ignore the reactance for all practical uses. In fact, using such a balun would give us a theoretical SWR of about 1.19:1.

(Click here for full size image)

Figure 4 is the view of our new antenna with current distribution curves added to the elements. This is effectively the same as the similar figures from Part 16 and is shown mostly so you can see a consistent progression of the designs.

(Click here for full size image)

Figure 5 is what you’ve been waiting for...the far field plot. If you compare this back to the “Traditional” two element design, you’ll see that the addition of the DIR has extended our forward lobe to 7.15 dBi of gain. This is a jump of nearly a full dB of forward gain, but the real advantage is in the side and back lobes...the FB Ratio went from about -12 dB all the way to -22 dB, and the FS Ratio went from -16 dB to -19 dB! All of a sudden, with just one additional element, that annoying buzz from the power lines across town just fell off by half (or more) of its strength. Again, remember that Forward Gain is rarely the real reason to having a Yagi.

The Four Element Yagi

Above the 20m band, Yagi antennas with four or more elements (sometimes a LOT more!) are practical. The general myth—er, I mean rule—of thumb, however, is that more than about 15 total elements puts you into the territory of diminishing returns on the investment. We’ll talk about this more later in the construction article, but just know that this is the classic “Old Wife’s Tale” and is based on bad assumptions.

For now, however, we’re going to look at a four element Yagi. This is nothing more than the three element design above with the addition of one more DIR. Again, we’re not going to do any optimization and just look at what happens (and why it happens) when we add an extra element.

(Click here for full size image)

Figure 6 shows the EZNEC input screens for our four element antenna. The only change here is the addition of a second DIR (Wire 4) that is identical to the existing DIR (Wire3) in length and is spaced 257mm forward of the first DIR. Just as an FYI, elements are usually labeled with their type (DIR or REF) and a sequential number starting at the DE. So we now have an antenna with a DE (Wire 1), a single REF (Wire 2) termed REF1, and two DIR elements defined as DIR1 (Wire 3) and DIR2 (Wire 4).

(Click here for full size image)

Figure 7 is the view of the four element Yagi. Just like the three element design, the radiation will run from REF1 (Wire 2) through the DE (Wire1), DIR1 (Wire3), and on to DIR2 (Wire4). It’s worth noting that the overall length of the antenna (from REF1 to DIR2) is only 771mm (about 31 inches). In other words, this antenna could use a yard stick as a boom and have some room left over!

(Click here for full size image)

Figure 8 is our SWR plot. This time, you see that the SWR has jumped up, and the reason why is the shift in the antenna impedance. In the lower left corner, you’ll see that our complex impedance has become 13.06 + j8.536 ohms. The falling resistance causes most of the SWR, but again, we aren’t worried about that since we can transform the resistance as needed. The potential problem is that our reactance has become inductive again and the absolute value has increased slightly. But don’t worry...we’re going to look at a bit of magic later called the Gamma Match that will solve all of these issues.

(Click here for full size image)

Figure 9 is our current distribution. Look closely at the current on our new DIR2...note that it is higher than the induced current in DIR1. This is because DIR1 is getting current ONLY from the DE, but DIR2 is getting current from the DE and from DIR1. This interaction tends to pull the pattern from the side lobes into the forward lobe, but does let some “leakage” get to the back lobe. We’ll see that in just a moment.

(Click here for full size image)

Lastly, Figure 10 is the Far Field Pattern plot. Note how the forward gain has increased to 8.36 dBi, nearly 1.5 dB higher than the three element design. Also, the FS Ratio has jumped from -19 dB for three elements to almost -26 dB with four elements! Our FB Ratio has, however, gone from -22 dB to “only” -12.5 dB. Again, this design is NOT optimized for anything in particular, but you should see now that you can indeed make a design that has either maximum forward gain, maximum FS Ratio, or maximum FB Ratio. Usually, you can get only one of these to a maximum at a time. From a purely theoretical point of view, a four element Yagi could be designed to give a maximum forward gain of about 14 dBi, OR have a maximum FS Ratio of around -36 dB, OR a maximum FB Ratio of about -32 dB. These are done by shifting the lengths of the DIR and REF elements and/or the relative spacing of the several elements. The trick here is figure out what your particular needs are and then to design to those needs. I’ll say it again, but high forward gain is usually not the best reason for having a Yagi.

Once more, if you are following along and “building” these antennas in EZNEC or some other antenna design/analysis software, play with things a little. Change the lengths and spacing of the parasitic elements and see what happens. You’ll be surprised how quickly you begin to learn to have an almost “gut feeling” about what changes will do and how they can be used to fit your needs.

In the next Antenna Farm article, we’re going to take a look at common construction concepts, including matching, for Yagi antennas. We will also briefly consider other directional antennas that may, in some cases, present a better solution than a Yagi.

Take Care & 73
de KC6UFM
Charles

AN INTERVIEW WITH PETER W2PMS - By Lucca KD2YHZ

1. What is your name, Callsign, & Location?
Peter Sundquist, W2PMS. Cortland, NY USA.

2. How long have you been a ham?
I have been licensed since 1992.

3. What class license do you hold?
Technician.

4. (If not extra), Do you plan on upgrading your license?
Yes, I would like to upgrade to General sometime.

5. What do you enjoy most about amateur radio?
I enjoy the connections and friendships made with other hams that I talk to on the air.

6. What radio equipment do you currently have?
Alinco DR-735T Mobile (currently my Allstar node radio), Icom ID-52A Handheld, Yaesu FT-70D Handheld, and Yaesu VX-6R Handheld.
I also have a ClearNode Allstar hotspot, and an openSPOT4 Pro hotspot.

7. What radio equipment do you want?
Every new shiny radio, of course!

8. What got you into the hobby?
My friend and broadcast engineer, John Hill, KB2MTI (sk). I worked with him in broadcast radio for many years,
and he convinced me to get into amateur radio. He was my elmer, and the first contact I made on the air.
John was the kind of guy that could fix just about anything with whatever he had on hand. If he couldn't fix it,
he probably had a spare in the massive collection of stuff in his car.

9. What is your greatest accomplishment in Ham Radio?
I'd say all of the friends I've been able to make through amateur radio.

10. What keeps you coming back to ECR?
I like the daily nets where you can stay in touch with the people you get to know on the ECR, and hearing what people are up to in their daily lives.

11. What hobbies do you have outside of Ham Radio?
I enjoy building computers and tinkering with them. I also like learning about technology in general.

DEADLINE FOR 2023 ARRL FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM IS JANUARY 4, 2023
Taken from The ARRL Letter dated December 15, 2022

The application deadline for the 2023 ARRL Foundation Scholarship Program is January 4, 2023, at 12 PM Eastern Time. More than 100 scholarships ranging from $500 to $25,000 will be awarded in 2023 to radio amateurs who are pursuing higher education. While the terms of each scholarship vary, many of the awards may be applied to tuition, books, fees, and other educational expenses.

Applicants must be active, FCC-licensed amateur radio operators. Active foreign amateur radio operators are eligible for scholarships established by Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) and administered by the ARRL Foundation. Every applicant must submit a completed online application by the deadline.

ARRL intern Jherica Goodgame, KI5HTA, was among the 2022 ARRL Foundation Scholarship winners. She attends the University of Mississippi.

The ARRL Foundation will be utilizing the same scholarship management platform for 2023 scholarships that was used for 2022 scholarships. Transcripts and additional required documents must be submitted with the online application and not emailed separately. Some scholarships require additional documents, such as a letter of recommendation from a sitting officer of an ARRL Affiliated Club. Applications without accompanying transcripts and additional required documents (if applicable) will not be considered.

Additional information and a link to the application can be found at www.arrl.org/scholarship-program.

The ARRL Foundation Scholarship Committee will review all applicants for eligibility and award decisions. Recipients will be notified in May 2023 via USPS and email. Awards are mailed directly to recipients' schools.

In 2022, there were 139 Foundation Scholarships awarded, totaling $921,250.

The ARRL Foundation administers programs to support the amateur radio community, and was established in 1973 by ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®.

AMATEUR RADIO FEATURED ON MONTANA PUBLIC TELEVISION
Taken from The ARRL Letter dated December 15, 2022

On Thursday, November 24, 2022, Thanksgiving evening, MontanaPBS aired a documentary about amateur radio that was appropriately titled, HAM. The 25-minute program was produced by students, in cooperation with the Greater Montana Foundation, as well as the School of Journalism and the School of Visual & Media Arts at the University of Montana (UM) in Missoula. Several local amateur radio operators were featured in the program, including Lance Collister, W7GJ; Dennis Lane, KR7Q; Mike Leary, K7MSO, and Keith Graves, NE7R. Together, they talked about how amateur radio has evolved and their experiences as active hams.

The program is available to watch on the MontanaPBS website, at www.montanapbs.org/programs/ham.

ARRL member Lance Collister, W7GJ, of Frenchtown, Montana, was among the hams featured in the student-produced documentary.

"I was happy to agree to the interview," said ARRL member Dennis Lane, KR7Q, who was among a handful of hams featured in the video, such as Lane and his wife, Debi; Lance Collister, W7GJ; Karen Orzech; Mike Leary, K7MSO; Keith Graves, NE7R, and Lois Graves, W7LAG. "The students visited my home and ham shack in early March of 2022. They seemed to be interested in the human-interest aspect of ham radio," Lane continued. "I tried to emphasize the relationships and lifelong friendships that I have enjoyed over my 45 years in the hobby."

Lane also shared, "When I told the students about Parks on the Air®, they asked if they could come with me on my next POTA activation. I was happy to have them join me at Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge in Stevensville." During the activation, Lane made radio contacts on both VHF and shortwave, using an end-fed half-wave antenna. "One of the first contacts I made was in Alaska. They seemed very excited about that."

The UM student film crew included Grace Wolcott, Kal Bailey, Jared Benge, Karter Bernhardt, Julien Dousset, Maiya Fleck, Marcia Heydt, Natalie Verploegen, and Ryan Weibush. Lane published these personal videos from the filming:

https://www.montanaartqwerks.com/My-Ham-Radio-Page-de-KR7Q/Mpbs/i-wqc9jJz/A

https://youtu.be/S_UBc-b-Nek (YouTube)

YACHT NEWS for December 17 - By Ed KG8CX

Young Amateurs Communications Ham Team, K8KDZ
Creating Friendships, Expanding the Voice of Youth in Ham Radio
Inspiring Youth wih Enjoyment & Technology of Ham Radio
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Facebook, YACHT echolink and HF sessions, YACHT News
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New webpage https://qsl.net/yacht-arc/home.html
----------------------------------------------------------

**LATER START FOR WED. YACHT CHAT SESSION... If you are reading this prior to 7pm cst, join me to watch the HRAG podcast as the Pearson boys, Blake and Ryan, discuss their POTA activities. They will be the hosts this evening. Afterwards, I will check the YACHT echolink node for any check ins. We can discuss the HRAG show among other topics. The show be available later on You Tube for viewing. Here is Andrew's message....

Blake & Ryan will be on James' KE8PZN Live Stream tonight 14Dec22.
"HRAK Take Over" live stream, tonight 7pm Central
Ham Radio Adventure Guy: https://youtu.be/a4tauw4u_SQ

I hope you're available to watch tonight as the boys provide a summer POTA overview.

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas!
--
73 & 75 - Andrew
KN4VKX
Life Verse: 3 John 1:4

NET REVIEW... Excellent youth net on Saturday. 24 connections with these young hams: Declan 2W0KYH, Walker KC3RAP, Jacob KQ4CCE (new check in), Andrew KJ7MPQ, Dylan KJ7MFU, Abbi KC3OTG, Blake KN5VKY, Ryan KN4VKW, Quinn KN6ULC (Japan), Lyle KE0ZNV, Daniel NC8R, Joshua K8FI, Joey K9GVN, Adam VA3BHT. Thanks to all others who joined our Saturday net.

CHAT SESSIONS... Monday: 12 stations on board and 8 youth--KQ4CCE Jacob, KF0JNE Dylan, VA3BHT Adam, KI5JXQ Liam, NC8R Daniel, KE8RJU Grace, KF0JFQ Dylan, KF0JFQ 3rd party Joshua. Tuesday: Checking in were - K0NH, K0NNK, NC8R, KF0JFQ, KE0ZNV, also heard from K5NO, K3TEL, KY4SM

CONGRATULATIONS TO LYLE & KATIE... KE0ZNV topped the Middle School segment of the October School Club Roundup as shown here. Katie's school club came in 3rd place. All good and YACHT is proud of both of you. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=150902051048039&set=a.116538234484421

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS TO... Denny K5DCC on 18th, AnnMarie 2E0RUX on 14th

NEW MEMBERS... Welcome to Sangyao Hou from Fuzhou, China. His U.S. call is NR1K. BG5UZW is his father's callsign. Hou can use his U.S. call on weekends when he is not in school. His age is 17. Our other new member is an adult from Canada, Matthew VE3ZQN. He is a Sea Scout officer and works with youth Scouts. Nice to have both on our outstanding team. And finally, we welcome Jacob, age 12 http://www.qrz.com/db/kq4cce. His photo below...
72 new youth members in 2022. A remarkable achievement. Youth is an important faction in ham radio.
kq4cce

NEW YOUNG HAM... Congratulations to Rachel KE8WDE http://www.qrz.com/db/ke8wde She is sister to Andrew N8APR of Hudsonville, MI and is 12. Hopefully we can sign her up to the YACHT program as a new YL ham.

AN INSPIRATIONAL VIDEO... Watch this video with Vicki AD3I "How to Ignite Interest in Ham Radio" https://youtu.be/tdcL9y2CcZg

SANTA CLAUS FROM FINLAND ON RADIO... [link]

BRITAINS GOT TALENT... This group of kids are phenomenal. A youth carnival of music and joy https://www.facebook.com/100032361712411/videos/727331584560955/

COLT CLARK & KIDS... You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch, just performed by Colt and kids. https://youtu.be/9WeX75amQkc

THE MARSH FAMILY SINGERS... from the U.K. with their latest song in recognition of "Save the Children" https://youtu.be/4uaXL4Eq6mk

CHRISTMAS WITH THE FANTASTIC FRENCH FAMILY... https://thefrenchfamilyband.com/home Three songs with all four members in an informal setting. The last one includes all 4.

FUTURE HAM FROM EL SALVADOR... Here is Mily YS1YXI brother working the bands under his sister Mily's callsign. He will hopefully soon get his license and become a YACHT member. He also works satellites using Mily's call as 3rd party. Notice the wall hangings, especially the sign above the monitor. Mily is proud of her YACHT connection and so are we with her youth membership.

--
73,
Ed Engleman KG8CX
yacht

http://yachthams.webstarts.com/index.html
http://w8pif.webstarts.com/index.html
http://www.qrz.com/db/k8kdz

HOW CAN YOU HELP OUT WITH THE NEWSLETTER?

If you have any interest in giving us a hand, please send an email to K2SHF. Send us links, articles, pictures, anything really. And if you have knowledge in a subject that you think our readers would find interesting, perhaps you could write some articles. "This is a team effort".

FACILITATORS
Dick WB2JPQ
Henry WB4IVB
Emil WA2UPK
Bob KB3SNM
Tony W2KJV
Kevin VE3BZ
Paul W4END
David KB4FXC
Kevin KE7K
Joe KO4FRR
Mike K2CMT
Michael K2SHF
Keynon KB5GLC
Dan KD2VNU
Caleb KO4UYJ
Scott W2BLT

ECR ACCESS
IRLP 9050
AllStar 27339, 45192, 45225
Echolink WB2JPQ-R(57780), WB2JPQ-L(375103)
Echolink Conference *ECR9050*
DMR Brandmeister 3129973
DMR TGIF 9050
System Fusion 44444, 92805
DStar XRF(XLX)256E, XLX 237
HamShack Hotline 94049
P25 31582, 9050
M17 M17-ECR Module A
Hams Over IP 15001

NETS
ECR Tech Net
     Tuesdays 8PM ET
Morning Brew
     Mon-Fri 7AM ET
Second Cup
     One random day a week at 9AM ET
ECR Pop-Up Net
     Happens at random times on random days
40m ECR Net
     Saturdays at 10AM ET on 7245 KHz +- LSB

WEBPAGE
http://eastcoastreflector.com

ZOOM ROOM
Open 24/7. All are welcome!
ID: 83929643320
Password: 193414
http://bit.ly/ecrdaily

MERCH SHOP
http://bit.ly/ecrshop

TECH NET LOG
http://bit.ly/ecrtechnet

YOUTUBE CHANNEL
http://bit.ly/ecrYouTube