TEXT IS FROM JULY 2001 QST PAGES 91 AND 117 ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ ‰ NOW 40 WPM ‰ A THREE ELEMENT MONOBANDER FOR 17 10 METERS WITH TWO ELEMENTS ON 20 IN 1966 I WAS A NEWLY LICENSED NOVICE AND WAS ON THE AIR USING A FRIENDS GLOBE CHIEF TRANSMITTER, A NATIONAL NC 270 RECEIVER AND A HOMEMADE INVERTED V ATTACHED TO MY HOUSE WITH A BAMBOO POLE. THE GLOBE SOON GAVE WAY TO A HOME BREW 6146B TRANSMITTER BUILT FROM SCHEMATICS IN THE 1966 RADIO AMATEURS HANDBOOK. BUT QSOS WERE HARD TO COME BY BECAUSE I WAS RUNNING ALL OF 50 W DURING THE LULL BETWEEN SOLAR CYCLES 19 AND 20. THEN CAME THE SEPTEMBER 1966 ISSUE OF QST AND AN ARTICLE BY LEW MCCOY, W1ICP, ENTITLED, A TWO ELEMENT BEAM FOR 15. IN THAT ARTICLE, LEW SAID, AN AMATEURS FIRST VENTURE ON 15 AND 10 UNDER OPEN BAND CONDITIONS IS A REVELATION IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH A BEAM ANTENNA YOULL BE IN FOR PLENTY OF SURPRISES THIS FALL AND WINTER SHOULD BE A REAL HUMDINGER ON 15, SO DONT MISS IT. LEW WROTE THAT ARTICLE SHORTLY AFTER THE BEGINNING OF SOLAR CYCLE 20, WHICH PEAKED IN 1969 70 AND WAS ONE OF THE LOWEST PEAKING CYCLES IN RECENT HISTORY, COMPARABLE UNFORTUNATELY TO CYCLE 23, WHICH WERE PRESENTLY TRUDGING THROUGH. I BUILT THAT ANTENNA, AND IT GAVE ME SOME SERIOUS FUN ‰ FROM PAGE 116 ‰ 7 B WA3GQU 4,828 71 34 24 B K3CR KB3AFT, op 229,440 1434 80 24 A WA3SES 118,184 748 79 14 A N3IXR 102,410 665 77 22 A AA3ML 38,628 261 74 13 A AD8J 35,332 242 73 5 A WA3HAE 32,266 221 73 6 A KE3KD 23,296 182 64 9 A N3YEA ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ WORK ON THE ASSOCIATED ANTENNA. HEADSETS CAN BE BOTH A BLESSING AND A HINDRANCE. CREDENTIALING AND FACILITY ORIENTATION NEEDS TO BE STANDARDIZED AT SIMILAR ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS HOSPITALS. FACILITY SECURITY PERSONNEL, IN SOME LOCATIONS, ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH THE RADIO TEAM AND ITS PURPOSE. ‰ FROM PAGE 117 ‰ VUS 17,050 155 55 10 M WA5BU N5VHO, KC5AMA, ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ EARNING WAS AND WAC AND WORKING LOTS OF DX ON 15 METERS. NOW ID LIKE TO OFFER YOU THAT SAME THRILL BUILDING YOUR OWN ANTENNA AND WORKING DX WITH A GAIN ANTENNA 20, 17, 12 AND 10 METER BANDS INCLUDED. IF YOUVE FOLLOWED ME THIS FAR YOURE NOW ASKING, YEAH, BUT A MULTI BAND MONOBANDER ISNT THAT AN OXYMORON? NOPE. AFTER A LESS THAN GREAT PERFORMANCE IN LAST YEARS FIELD DAY MOSTLY BECAUSE OF ANTENNAS I VOWED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO BUILD A NO COMPROMISE, THREE ELEMENT BEAM THAT COULD BE EASILY RECONFIGURED FOR ANY BAND FROM 20 THROUGH 10 METERS. MY IDEAL ANTENNA HAD TO 1 BE RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE, 2 BE LIGHTWEIGHT, 3 HAVE A TELESCOPING BOOM SO IT COULD BE COLLAPSED FOR COMPACTNESS, 4 HAVE FOLDABLE, TELESCOPING ELEMENTS, 5 BE EASILY RE CONFIGURABLE FOR DIFFERENT BANDS WITHOUT USING ANY TOOLS, 6 HAVE GOOD GAIN AND FRONT TO BACK VALUES, 7 USE PARTS THAT ARE EASY TO FIND AND 8 BE EASY TO BUILD. PART OF MY DREAM ANTENNA WAS HIDING IN THE ARRL ANTENNA BOOK. THE PV4 MONOBANDER BY THE LATE ANTENNA GURU DR JAMES LAWSON, W2PV ‰ FROM PAGE 116 ‰ 22,304 164 68 13 A W3JXP 21,294 169 63 24 A WB3AVD 16,200 150 54 10 A N3GJ 11,556 107 54 3 A N3UE 42,818 271 79 19 U 4 Alabama K4WI 205,600 1285 80 20 ‰ END OF 40 WPM TEXT ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ