ICOM IC-705 on 20M, 5W/10W, 1/4 wave Vertical, 1 Radial, No Tuner, First Contacts
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- Опубликовано: 20 фев 2021
- Hi, this Frank, VE2FGJ and today I bring the IC-705 in my car during the winter to do my first HF contacts on this shinny radio.
For testing purposes, I will be transmitting on a home made, 16 feet, 1/4 wave vertical antenna (MFJ-1979) with only 1 radial and no tuner at all, which I have never attempted before.
Here we go now.
I carefully adjusted the 16 feet telescopic antenna and the counter poise to resonate in the middle of the 20M band. The AA-600 Antenna analyzer showed a 2:1 SWR while the IC-705 actually showed a 1.5:1 SWR.
Unfortunately my 1st contact was impeded by having the Mic Gain at only 50%, I noticed it only after the Call and later changed it to 100%.
The 2nd Call was in Tennessee,US which was received as a 58 and I brought the TX power down from 10W to 5W and no noticeable difference was perceived.
It was a cold day, I attempted only a few contacts, my fingers were freezing. For my 1st experience on HF with the IC-705, I am glad for the results, the 1/4 wave antenna worked well and I’ll add more radials next time as it will bring down the SWR and allow better omni directional coverage.
I can’t wait for the weather to warm up, climb a mountain, setup the antenna and make more contacts with the IC-705. Even with it’s limited power and the challenges this brings, I think this is a fantastic radio, I am really enjoying it so far.
Well, This is it for me for today, Thanks for watching! 73
Note: This was filmed at 2 different locations and 2 different days, the video was edited to join the most relevant scenes and were not done in the order that they are presented. Antenna tuning took most of the time as this is a first attempt with this experimental setup. 
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Merci pour les essais Frank.. bonne continuation et espérons à bientôt sur l'air en VE2/F5NHJ - 73
Danke für das tolle Video.73,de Jozef OE1CJG.😊😊😊
Great! Glad you like it! 73
Amazing, for the people living on the tropical island, Taiwan, just bought a IC-705. BX5ABK
Great, enjoy the IC-705 in warm weather! 73
Great video. QRP is not a deal killer. Was inspired after seeing your video, and attempted something similar with a 18' fishing pole, and made several DX and stateside contacts a few weekends ago, also in a similar location, using the FT817ND at 5 watts, also with one radial pointing in the wrong location. Can't wait to do it again. 73 de VE2LRZ
Thanks Erick, very glad to see this was inspiring, its amazing how we can make contacts will less. 5W goes a long way. Experimenting and sharing is all the fun! 73
thanks frank another good video thanks very much 73 from kb2uew
Thanks Alvaro, glad you like it! 73
Great video work👍👍👍 I really appreciate the maps...
Next time let us know when you’re going out so we could be around the radio I’d like to try to make contact with you on HF👍👍👍
Thanks, That would be cool, a "get together" on the air!
What a cracking setup Frank...beautiful scenery 👌, hope you have the chains on those tyres ..
I realize I'm kinda randomly asking but do anyone know of a good website to watch newly released series online?
@Thatcher Keaton I dunno I watch on Flixportal. you can find it through google :) -israel
@Israel Bryce thank you, signed up and it seems like a nice service :D I really appreciate it !
@Thatcher Keaton Happy to help :D
Frank, for DX, -1 Bass, +5 Treble, on MID...
For rag chew +5 Bass, + 5 Treble, on WIDE.
Mic gain about 35% and Comp at 5.
Works for me.
Thanks for sharing Robbie, interesting... I am so used to the IC-7300 with Mic 100% and Comp 1. I will be sure to test again with your suggestions!
Robbie, I just found this great video for adjusting the Mic/Comp which may help, I will try it. ruclips.net/video/uknQU6V6_Ek/видео.html&feature=emb_title
Hi Frank, it looks like you have made a nice Antenna, I also have a 705 and am waiting for a MPAS 2.0 to arrive from Nevada, so I can try portable operating when the UK weather improves!! It just proves that you can make good DX with low power! Interesting comments on the direction of the ground radial, maybe worth experimenting with more radials laying on the ground or resonant raised off the ground. 73 Alex M0KVA
Thanks Alex, the MPAS will allow for multiple bands, yes more radials or less but elevated. I really like experimenting, I am thinking of the Wolf River Coil for using my setup on 40M and 80M. Good luck with your setup Alex. 73
You'll love the MPAS 2.0, I use it with the FT-891 @100 watts and over the Summer on 20M evenings UTC I made regular contacts from Ireland to South America as far as Chile, Super antenna and very quiet on receive, it works so well I decided to leave it on the front lawn permanently but if doing this you will need to grease it with noalox or the aluminium sections will seize and you won't be able to take it apart again. I just checked mine today and after the whole horribly wet and windy winter it's still as new, I'll apply more noalox for next Winter.
I use just the single radial, will make more + the CAP Hat, this makes it more broadband and I can work some bands with no tuner.
Performance will suffer on 80m but I have made come contacts to the U.K and on 40m performance will also suffer but I have made contacts to USA on 40m with just 100 watts, to be honest I haven't really tried much on 40m with it.
It's so easy to set up, the spike makes it even easier to get in the ground. So now Instead of having to take it out of the bag and set it up I have to take it off the front lawn to go portable but at least it's getting good use.
I also use it with digi modes but remember max power is 50 watts or a bit less using the hybrid micro.
@@o00scorpion00o Hi, thanks for the info on MPAS 2.0 I'm still waiting for it to arrive from the US and can't wait to have a play with it in the field !! 73 Alex M0KVA
If you elevate the single radial It will resonate better and you will find better swr without the need for more ground radials. Buddipole recommends an elevated height of >=4ft
Yes, I did try the Buddipole, 1 radial at 6 feet and it provided a better SWR. I also tried with 4 radials at 5 feet, its fun to play with antennas. Now I usually use 3 radials partially elevated, gives 1.3:1. Thanks for the comment!
Many times I see that when the antenna analyzer is used, it shows a different swr than the one shown in the radio. If you place another radio, it shows another swr. It is as if each radio had different swr.
Yes, it may differ a bit and also with more power applied the SWR may rise up. I usually do coarse tuning with the analyzer and fine tuning with the radio. Sometimes I rely only on the analyzer because the difference is usually small.
where did you get the bracket to hold the antenna to the tripod? good job overall with all the contacts
The bracket is a generic CB antenna mount to SO-239, while the following is not exactly the same, it can be found on Amazon with "Pro Trucker 3 Way Aluminum Cb or Ham Antenna Aluminum Mirror Mount with Stud"
@@VE2FGJ Brilliant. thanks
Might try a bit less mic gain and a bit more compression. Great setup!
Yep and a bit more radials! Thanks.
exactly what I was thinking too... I run mic at 35% and compression at 3, I get between -5 to -10dB of compression and it usually works really well !
@@Aleziss I actually made some tests this weekend and those values you mentioned are pretty spot on! Mic 35% and Comp at 3 on WIDE BW with the stock mic is very good. I would increase the Mic gain a bit with MID BW to push that signal for DX, Thanks Aleziss for the tip !
@@VE2FGJ awesome ! yes, DX is better at 2.4kHz bandwidth but I always leave at those levels and I always get excellent audio report even with the stock mic. 73 !
Question @ 5:20 why did you place the coax choke by the antenna? If you placed it by the radio, especially with 5W, the feedline shield would become a radial...so with essentially the same setup you would have 2 radials. Also, when you say this works well....compared to what? There are references which show the dB change when adding radials, and 1 is suboptimal.
Usually we choke at the antenna feed point. I didn't want the coax to be part of the antenna. The goal was to do an improvised experiment to see how 1 radial would do with 5W/10W as a minimal portable setup. It did work well as a minimal antenna but is not optimal. Next time, I will make a set of radials.
@@VE2FGJ Sounds good! Thank you for conducting this experiment. I'm just curious, for a portable setup with QRP power, why not want to make the coax shield a radial? Is there a reason? And...we already know that antennas with 6-12dB loss do work, as evidenced by the popularity of the Chameleon MPAS system.
@@daveN2MXX The reason is isolation, I may change coax length, this will cause to have to re-adjust the antenna/radials length. I am pretty sure that the single turn on a ferrite would not do the job of actually choking, at best it does it a bit. It is just good practice. Again this is my 1st experiment and during cold weather, not ideal for lengthy testing. More to come as the weather warms up! Thank you for the question.
You might want to turn the compressor on for SSB. Makes a big difference. Mic gain at 70% and compression at 7.
Hi Micheal, those were the 1st contacts... I now use compression 2-4 and MicGain 50-70 and TBW Mid for DX, those really do help. Thanks.
Nice video.
How long did it take to find people to talk to?
Thanks for the question. I was lucky, the VE6CQ (Alberta) was the very 1st attempt and he responded instantly. The next calls were more sparse. With this radio it is a patience game. A lot as to do with the antenna, not the limited TX power.
Burrrrr ! Looks like a tad too cold for me. Tuner? i only use resonant antennas and never use a tuner. I rarely use my vertical for portable operating. I've watched a lot of RUclips video since Covid made me a caveman. Seems numerous hams use simple verticals and seem to have success. Looks like I'll have to dig out the Tripod and mount on it along with a radial wire or two.
Nice video. Hope you didn't get too cold. Barry, KU3X/QRP
Thanks Barry, I was surprised at the results, I will experiment more as the weather warms up.
hello what antenna you used? 73
Hi, it is a home made, 16 feet, 1/4 wave vertical antenna (MFJ-1979) with only 1 radial and no tuner. 73
turn on the compression as well
Yes compression does make a great difference