HF shore station

[NoTies]

I want to set up a shore based HF station so I can do my cruising vicariously for a while. I'm familier with boat installs but no experience with land based. I have a iCom IC-M710 and automatic tuner. What do I do for antenna and/or ground plane? I need to have the set-up designed before I can apply for a station licence.

[hellosailor]

Start with "Where is this?" because most places have restrictions on what you can erect and what will best fit or work for you. Are there zoning considerations? An HOA or condo regulations? Or are you on your own two acres in Vanuatu, concerned only with a budget (how much, by the way?) and having no other restrictions on what you can erect?

[NoTies]

There are no real zoning restrictions, we manage to avoid a lot of that sort of bureaucracy here. We have a workshop about 100' long that it can be mounted on the roof of. Budget not too much of an issue, we have wrecked several sailboats since Cyclone Pam cam calling so we have a fair amount of rigging gear including 1x insulated baskstay antenna. Not sure if this will be any good for us.

[SunnyJ]

Countries belonging to the ITU usually have beacoup restrictions.

1. Marine Assignments (frequencies) are for vessels and governments conducting operations on the waterways. So a marine radio installed and transmitting on land
by a citizen is not kosher.

2. Amateur Radio operations (i.e. transmitting) is good to go but usually requires an operator certificate and in some countries a station licence as you stated.

3. Some municipalities have tower (antenna element) hoisting policies as was stated.

73's

[NoTies]

The TRR office (Telecommunications and Roadiocommunications Regulator is happy with our proposed install as it will also be made avaialble for SAR. Vanuatu is not like the developed world, it can be surprisingly easy to get things done. I just need to know what antenna type to use. Does having the automatic tuner matter?

[Dsanduril]

I'd recommend taking a look at the ARRL Antenna Handbook if you can get a copy. You can get a one-page description for your various options here:

HF

On land there are lots of options for the ground plane. You can run a bunch of radials. Or build a multi-band dipole. Or, if that shop roof is the typical corrugated steel you can probably use that. With room so many more options than on a boat.

The legalities are a whole other issue, you'll have to work those out with the local authorities, but any "business" or "club" that can make a case for marine communications can usually manage a land station license one way or the other.

[El Pinguino]

Two choices....depending on how many frequencies you want to work....and what you have to hang stuff off....
Simples...some pt... make a few dipoles cut for the required frequencies...hang between a couple of trees.
If you have a tuner and some coax...get your self a squidpole 7 metres or so long....tape copper wire to it...attach wire to tuner...connect coax between radio and tuner.... in place of copper strap as found in a boat just run out wire radials on the ground...for the ground... the more the merrier...photos to follow...

[El Pinguino]

A vertical that works very well at Campo del Pingo...

About a 2 metre legth of 2 inch diam iron pipe driven into the ground... over the top of this has been slid about 4 metres of 2.5 inch poly pipe..held a little bit off the ground by a u-bolt.

Duct taped to the top of the poly pipe is a 7 metre squid pole up the guts of which has been threaded the copper antenna which is then taped at the top.

Beneath the poly I have secured the ATU... screwed it to a bit of ply and then the ply u-bolted to the iron pipe.

Beneath that is a fancy pancy-ground plate thingo from DX Engineering... you can just run your grounds directo from the ground stud on your ATU.

Insulated copper radials are run from the base... I have about 100 but 4 will work at a pinch.

Coax and control cable from tuner to radio....job done.

This one has been up maybe 5 years.. have worked all continents so seems ok. Unstayed so it bends a bit in a breeze.

[El Pinguino]

Just checking up on a bit of stuff before I posted nonsense....

Your radials should be a quarter ( I have seen the figure 0.28 mentiond) of the lowest frequency you want to work.... so if you want to work down to 7 megs then the wavelength is 40 metres so your radials shoul be be a bit over 10 metres. I also see where they say 4 radials wont be much good and 120 is optimum..... I just used all the scrap cable out of my shed and kept on going 'til I ran out...

Squid poles... I bought mine in sydney Telescopic Poles flag amatuer HAM radio antenna squid pole ( I'm sure they were a lot cheaper then) and I pretty sure you could find one in Vanuatu.

[NoTies]

10m radials could be problematical. We have a large shop but very limited land. Is it (as suggested) possible to use the shop roof as the ground plane and a single wire antenna?

[El Pinguino]

What frequencies do you want?

Lots of ways to do it... plenty people on HF with limited real estate... leave it with me for a bit.... you could try asking on eham.net

[NoTies]

I mainly want 8 megs to run the local cruiser's net but also want a greater range for possible use as SAR station so anything from 2 megs up I guess.

[El Pinguino]

2 megs... ooooh

Seems you could use the roof but this is getting outside my comfort zone...I'll ask around in the morning... in the meantime...20m - dipole or vertical over metal roof

[NoTies]

OK, the roof of my shop is roughly 3000 square feet, made of steel, as is the whole building. Can I use the roof as the ground and rig a single wire antenna up to 100' long above it?

[NoTies]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

2 megs... ooooh

Seems you could use the roof but this is getting outside my comfort zone...I'll ask around in the morning... in the meantime...20m - dipole or vertical over metal roof

Bit of a cross over of posts there. So, vertical on top of the roof? I can do a vertical beside the roof if needed. 2 megs is not a game breaker, more a nice to have.