New Technician here, cannot get contacts on 10 meter.

[KQ4OFQ]

Hello everyone, as the title of my thread says, I am a new technician and cannot make contacts with my new Anytone 5555NII. I built an antenna mast to hold a dipole 17 feet high, my SWR stays below 1.5, and it appears that I am modulating, but I simply cannot make contact with anyone. I was having a lot more success with my HT on UHF and VHF. Any Elmerisms would be appreciated.

 

[WB5UOM]

What kind of antenna?

 

[KQ4OFQ]

A home made dipole I bought from an Etsy seller/longtime amateur radio operator. Heavy duty pvc and wire.

 

[KQ4OFQ]

Pic attached

 

[WB5UOM]

out of curiousity, how long are the two legs, and what type ciax and how long. ,and are the legs of dipole horitozontal or angled down at 45 degrees from center?

 

[KQ4OFQ]

The legs are about 8’3”, angled slightly down (though nowhere near 45 degrees) due to the anchor points being lower than the mast. SWR stays below 1.5. Using Messi and Paoloni UltraFlex 7 coax, 50 ft. About half of the coax is coiled up and attached to the mast just below the antenna. Have a lightning arrestor inline just before the point that the coax enters the house, mast and arrestor grounded to and 8 ft. rod, which is then grounded to the house ground.

 

[KQ4OFQ]

I should add that I can occasionally rx a few good signals, and a lot of faint unintelligible ones.

 

[WB5UOM]

ok so Im hearing 3 or 4 qsos now between 28.3 and 28.5
dont know how the coiled coax ip on mast might affect things...
might just let it outand lay on ground to test ...may not make any difference you say 1.5or less...does show full or near full power out?
not familiar with that radio.
someone else may chime in here

 

[KQ4OFQ]

Power out is adjustable, appears normal.

 

[KQ4OFQ]

It would be hugely difficult to let the cable out. The mast is 17 ft high, made from SuperStrut, set in concrete inside of cinder blocks that is cemented to a large paver, then braced to a 1 3/4” metal fence post. I’d have to disconnect the anchor lines for the antenna and then lay tue mast down to uncoil the cable…

 

[KB4MSZ]

It's too bad you aren't just a tiny bit closer....

 

[KQ4OFQ]

Oh, I see you’re almost local lol

 

[KQ4OFQ]

I can pick up my ht, hit a repeater and catch someone in the panhandle, easy peasy…..

 

[KQ4OFQ]

I don’t know if this has any bearing on anything, but I have a touch lamp in my room that turns on every time I modulate.

 

[WB5UOM]

well that sounds like rf in the room
try unscrewing the outer shell of the coax connector on back if radio so that ONLY the center pin of the connector is making connection and then tune around and see if you hear any stations..if you DO hear one or more..then while listening to them reattach the outer shell and see if there is any change in recdption

 

[WB5UOM]

there is a group / net on 28.480 now

 

[KQ4OFQ]

I hear the group, though they don’t come in strong.

 

[KQ4OFQ]

When I partially unscrew the coax so that only the center pin is connected, I get more static.

 

[KQ4OFQ]

Listening to 28.470, loud and strong.

 

[KQ4OFQ]

North Dakota.