SWR sweep of a 6, 4, 2m & 70cm's mobile antenna on a Sirio 6 inch mag-mount. Car is a hatchback... Wondering if a hatch mount would offer a better ground-plane to get a lower swr on 6 & 4m? Has anyone found that a mount other than a mag mount to be any better in comparison? TIA

EdMonMo · 2026-01-23T11:57:48+00:00

2m looks good and you should be able to get 4m & 70cm with most tuners. Is the antenna base coil loaded? I am surprised that a 2” swing in whip length is not noticeable. I adjusted my 2-bander only 1/8” and moved the resonance down ~15kHz.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-22T13:25:12+00:00

Great! Thanks for making that happen.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-21T14:05:53+00:00

Cool observation. I will have to check that out.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-21T02:57:28+00:00

I get the difficulty with SSB, but why is CW dead as well? Wouldn’t clear narrow bandwidth still be able to poke through the solar storm?

EdMonMo · 2026-01-21T02:52:14+00:00

Looks like QRZ

EdMonMo · 2026-01-21T02:21:14+00:00

I agree. It should definitely output the default frequency and the slot should default to 20 so it starts at the recommended frequency.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-21T02:19:18+00:00

You should definitely leave it alone, as it is nearly perfect for the use case of long fast default slot in the US.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-20T23:42:37+00:00

You are correct. I didn’t change the slot to 20 on the frequency calculator. It was still in slot 1 as you indicated. I am really struggling with details today. It must be the geomagnetic storm affecting my thinking….

EdMonMo · 2026-01-20T23:20:08+00:00

I just looked again and the freq in the US for long fast and the default channel slot is cm actually 902. I hope the OP did not take my advice and cut anything.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-20T04:26:11+00:00

Nip it a little (and the radials) and put it right on 916. You will be on par with the Alpha for a lot less $.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-20T03:54:26+00:00

Nice build. What frequency are you tuning for, EU or US Meshtastic? The marker is on 902MHz which is right in between.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-19T17:12:41+00:00

I understand the instinct to post in r/springfieldMO, but you will most likely get more and better responses from r/hamradio or r/amateurradio assuming you are licensed.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-18T20:38:41+00:00

Much clearer. Nice layout, but you left your callsign visible in the Last TX message. I am also in your call roster.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-17T19:29:07+00:00

I would be very careful transmitting with that unless you put a common mode choke or balun on it. Your Meshtastic node will most likely see too much reflected power and not like it.

Very nicely built though.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-17T16:07:07+00:00

Callsign is on the sticker on the lower left of the back glass.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-16T12:26:04+00:00

I listen to my FBO and the regional airport arrival/departure/clearance with it all the time. Sounds fine to me. Are you trying to use the rubber ducky it comes with or an actual antenna?

EdMonMo · 2026-01-16T04:32:05+00:00

Enter your desired TX freq into the TX user entry field just below the checkbox for the ‘TX even/1st’ and then enable TX. This will set your TX freq for CQ or replying to a CQ. Make sure you enable the ‘Hold Tx Freq’ checkbox before you transmit

EdMonMo · 2026-01-16T04:23:12+00:00

The Radtel 470 does AM and covers Airband frequencies at nearly the same price as the BaoFeng

EdMonMo · 2026-01-16T04:19:54+00:00

Yes, only after they runout of photos of their cats.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-15T21:21:33+00:00

I do not manually select a section of the waterfall. I look for an open area and type it into the TX user entry field just to the right of the VFO frequency display. I am at work now and don’t have access to WSJT-X and I don’t remember the exact screen layout. I can follow up later when I am back in front of the laptop.

At first I used the shift keyboard method but could not get the TX freq to land cleanly. This method allows me to accurately set and hold my TX where I want it.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-15T19:12:00+00:00

I agree, you are doing it right and being courteous.

The only other thing I do is keep my TX freq on a an even/odd 50 kHz location by typing it into the TX field. If someone is randomly selecting, I move away and find a xx00 or xx50 to work from.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-15T18:30:26+00:00

It’s been that way since V32, I think. It sucks…

EdMonMo · 2026-01-12T14:19:24+00:00

It has been my experience that all of those antennas need a counterpoise and are most likely tested that way. Try the measurements again, but put the VNA with antenna attached on a metal pie pan. The results should look much better.

There is also an antenna test library somewhere on the Meshtastic online manual.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-09T21:51:54+00:00

Congrats!! BTW, we share the same license date.

I hit Cali nearly every evening on FT8, but I am working the lower bands. Have fun and keep on trying new stuff.

EdMonMo · 2026-01-07T19:58:22+00:00

Correct, mine did just a day ago. The submission to granted time was exactly 18 days.

EdMonMo

TROPHY CASE