Rob's Antennas

[@m.9243]

A great tour, thanks Rob! Wonderful to see home build wire antennas at a time when, many people go for the commercial Yagis and tower structures. You're blessed with enough trees there that offer natural antenna support, a heaven for the DIY ham. 73's from Sydney VK2xxx

[@RobVK3BVW]

Thanks, A.K.! A few things have changed since that video. I now have a 100m long horizontal loop, which does good things, too. Cheers, Rob VK3BVW

[@craignehring]

Nice set up and lovely place you have there

[@RobVK3BVW]

Thank you, Craig.

[@paulhastings3109]

Thank you Rob that is lot of wire.

[@68cristian]

Cheers Rob...very nice place and shack setup. Ta for the vid mate.

[@RobVK3BVW]

68cristian Cool. Thanks for watching!

[@alfsphone]

That was worth the watch, thank you Rob from NZ. I did subscribe

[@RobVK3BVW]

Thanks Alf!

[@cobraxspeed]

Nice station tour. 73"

[@jamdiversified9698]

Awesome setup, I'm just down the hill in Mooroolbark! What did you use for the antenna poles and where did you source them? Ham radio noob here going for my licence next week. It's always exciting when I come across a local on youtube to see where we can get stuff from. I've been looking into options for constructing a dipole.

[@RobVK3BVW]

G"day JAM! Good to meet your acquaintance....even if it is only on YT! :-) The main poles are old aluminium things from Tandy about a thousand years ago! They come in sections, but are becoming increasingly harder to pull apart as they get older. I don't expect you will get these any more. However, since this video from 2016, I have also used a 7m long squid pole for a 30m dipole. Works well and very light - got it from the local fishing shop in Lilydale. I have another squid pole at 10m long for future use that I got from the EMDRC Ham Fest last year. Because of where I live, I have to use wire antennas and not towers/beams. Carbon fibre poles are even better because they don't flex so much as the fibreglass fish poles. Worth a look on the web for those locally. Hope that helps. Cheers, Rob VK3BVW

[@seeharvester]

The property is beautiful, and the antennas are the icing on the cake. Do you collect your rain water from the roof? If so, is the debris in the gutter some sort of organic filter? :) hi hi

[@RobVK3BVW]

Hi! Thanks for checking out the video. It's been quite a few years since I made that video. The 20m inverted vee is still up. But the other antennas have been replaced with a 100m long horizontal skyloop antenna, a 10 MHz vertical delta loop and, recently, a centre-fed 5/8 wave vertical for 12 and 10m. Yes, the rainwater is "harvested" from the roofs of the house, garage and spa pavilion. In the video, you can see a bright blue canister between two of the tanks. That filters out the vast majority of rubbish that is sent down the gutters. It is changed over every 4-6 months. Then we have a much finer 1-micron filter under the sink in the kitchen, also replaced every 4-6 months. That second filter takes out all the little microscopic bugs, for pure fresh drinking water. Works well! If the tanks run dry during summer (which is not uncommon!), then there is a valve at the tanks that automatically switches over to the town water system. Best wishes, Rob VK3BVW

[@timcollingwood6158]

Hi thanks for the information on your antenna setups really interesting Best Regards Tim

[@RobVK3BVW]

Cheers, Tim

[@Dreamwoodinternational]

Most enjoyable viewing Rob - thank you for all the close-ups too. Your three (3) earth cables look similar to mine - are they 35 mm2? I'm wondering what sort of DX 'range' you get from the 40 m and 80 m wires - they don't appear particularly high. 73 VK2FALF

[@RobVK3BVW]

Hi Peter. Yes, earth wire is the standard building yellow/green wire. The 40m antenna came down last week when I tugged a little too hard during adjustments, hahaha. The 80 m ant is still up and at 10m high at the apex then slopes down in a gentle inverted vee. Works fine for FT8, but is more challenging for SSB work. We also have a big hill behind the property that effectively blocks signals from the north to the west. 73, Rob VK3BVW

[@Feguilosch]

Good work Rob...73!

[@mikemcdonald5147]

beautiful property

[@marklowe7431]

Very cool. Simple but effective.

[@volcanowb]

How pleasant. subscribed

[@copdwarriormcdonald7968]

Nice Location and layout! 73 De WV1Q Al

[@RobVK3BVW]

Thanks Al. Rob VK3BVW

[@VK5ZSH]

Nice antenna setups thanks for the show and tell, de VK5FSCK

[@RobVK3BVW]

Cool!! Thanks for the feedback, Dale. 73 mate, Rob VK3BVW

[@HFAeroDX]

Hi Rob, cool video of the antennas, what is your impression of the PAR end fed perhaps compared to other SWL antennas you may have had? Cheers, Michael hfaero.com

[@RobVK3BVW]

Hi Michael. The Par SWL is quite a good all-round antenna for the HF bands. It should fit into most backyards. It's about 14 m long, has a balun at the lead-in end. I've had it in several locations on my property in recent years. The current location out across the creek (as in the video above) seems best as the noise pickup is quite low there. With my 3.5, 7 and 14 mHz double bazookas, the Par SWL fills in many of the gaps very nicely as a good listening antenna. It works very well from 11 mHz up to 28 mHz, but struggles at 7 mHz and below when compared to the larger antennas. If you're looking for an all-rounder, then the Par SWL would be a good fit. Best 73 Michael, Rob VK3BVW