M2 News

From Mike's Shack -

SUNDAY, OCT 6, ABOUT 5 PM. AFTER A LONG DAY’S WORK DOING MAINTENANCE, ON THE WAY BACK UP TO 70 FT, THE 1” SHAFT FROM THE MAIN WORMDRIVE FRACTURED ALLOWING THE BIG PULLEY TO LET THE TOWER FALL FROM ABOUT 15 FEET UP. NOT PRETTY. I HAVE LOTS MORE PHOTOS BUT THIS ONE PRETTY WELL SAYS IT ALL! I HAVE QUICKLY DESIGNED UP A NEW XP ANTENNA 24 FT BOOM 11 ELE. 14. DBD….. THINKING 16 WOULD BE A GOOD NUMBER, ABOUT 25.7 DBD SPACED 14 FEET APART. WHOOOOPPPPEEEE! PROBABLY HAVE TO MOVE THE 6M ARRAY AND USE THAT BIGGER TOWER AND MT3000 ELEVATION SYSTEM. SO IF YOU DON’T HEAR ME ON IN THE ARRL EME CONTEST YOU WILL KNOW WHY. 73, MIKE K6MYC

Date created December 31, 1969

Follow up to the Small Satellite Conference at Utah State University

M2 Antenna Systems, Inc. and TeleCommunication Systems partnered for this event with a focus on the University Nanosat Program, a satellite design and fabrication competition for universities jointly adminstrated by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The program's objective is to train tomorrow's space professionals by providing a rigorous two year concept to flight-ready spacecraft competition. With the deployment of the CubeSat into space the need for inexpensive, accurate Ground Tracking Stations is critically. This is where M2 Antenna Systems, Inc. comes in. M2 Antenna Systems, Inc. and TeleCommunication Systems have partnered to produce a low cost alternative for satellite tracking. We have combined each company's 30+ years of RF, Mechanical, software and hardware engineering experience to create a cost effective and reliable tracking system. The positioner utilizes (COTS) materials along with a proven platform. The System software is designed around the LINUX operating system which provides system satiability and flexibility.

Date created December 31, 1969

Have an Idea? Call Us!

"I have an idea for an antenna - can you build it?" Such questions are often asked of us, and in most cases, the answer is "yes." Many customers, commercial and amateur, request custom antenna systems and products all the time. Many want to know if it is expensive. It doesn't always have to be so. Many off-the-shelf products can be adapted to custom requirements. Even well thought out, custom ideas can sometime be built with far less cost than would be seen by someone setting up their own design and testing facility. Generally, small changes do not add much to the overall cost of the custom product. Most additional costs cover the cost of engineering and documentation - updating or creating drawing for the machinists and technicians, and user manuals. Sometimes, the engineering fee includes assembly and testing of the product to ensure that it meets specifications. In the long run, the savings in your time is well worth the price to have it done by us. Contact us today with your custom design!

Date created December 31, 1969

Look - Up in the Sky!

At any given time, M2 has many projects and concepts in development that occasionally result in products brought to market. Our antennas go through a lengthy development process, starting out as a concept, of which many make it to market. Understandably, performance is the primary concern, so we concentrate first on proving the theory of the antenna, then focus shifts to manufacturing the product so that it meets the exacting mechanical specifications that M2 customers have come to expect. In this case, we've had a 10 meter HO Loop antenna in development for a year, proving that the design functions as the model predicts. The design depicted here will only vaguely resemble the finished product as we build in M2 ruggedness!

Date created December 31, 1969

M2 Announces the 6M-1K2 Solid State Amplifier

We at M2 Antenna Systems are proud to announce the next in our line of high efficiency LDMOSFET power amplifiers: the 6M-1K2. Featuring up to 1.25 kW output with 100 W drive, this amplifier is perfect for SSB and CW, as well as higher duty cycle modes like FM, RTTY and JT65! Based on the design of the popular 2M-1K2, this new 6 meter amplifier offers the same performance, but is designed to accommodate a higher input level consistent with most all-mode 6 meter rigs on the market today. It produces up to 1.25 kW PEP, and runs about 900-1000 W when the duty cycle picks up to keep things cool and extend the life of your output device. This amplifier is lightweight too! Weighing less than the power supplies for some radio, the amplifier with its power supply is in a truly "desktop sized" package. That, combined with a clean design means the 6M-1K2 will pass the inspection of even the most critical eye. For those who need an even smaller package, we offer the amplifier without the integrated power supply too. Provide your own 50 V power supply and you'll have "rack mount" performance in a "brick" sized package. So what are you waiting for - call us and order your new amplifier today!

Date created December 31, 1969

M2 Teams Up With the QSO Radio Show

We're pleased to announce that M2 is teaming up with Ted Randall's QSO Radio Show to keep you up to date on happenings in amateur radio antennas. The QSO Radio Show is available both as a podcast and as a broadcast on shortwave via WTWW on 9990 kHz. M2's world renowned antenna designer Mike Staal, K6MYC will be on HF this Field Day. While some may run into him on the amateur bands, he'll also be joining Ted Randall live on the QSO Radio Show. He'll be on 23 June at 1730 UTC. Listen in to the special Live Field Day Show on WTWW, broadcasting on 9990 kHz from 1700 to 2300 UTC on Saturday June 23. You can also listen live at http://tedrandall.com/pages/qso-live.php

Date created December 31, 1969

Putting It All Together

Getting a product from conception to market sometimes take a bumpy road, but persistence generally pays off. Such is the case with our HM64 Hitch Mount Mast. Conceptualized over a year ago, it was announced at the 2011 Dayton Hamvention and drew quite a bit of interest, with several in the field. Behind the scenes, it was more like a nightmare. The trouble revolved around the plastic bearings used to provide a reduced friction guide that keeps the interlocking mast sections centered and moving freely inside the next larger tube. Those are the key component in making sure the mast can reach its extended height of 24 feet. One might think that they can simply be injection molded. In reality, the tolerance are very precise and required the masterful touch of a machine shop artisan on a manual lathe. The results were slow and painful to say the least, with wasted hours and wasted material on the shop floor. Enter the persistent spirit of the machine shop. General Manager Matt Staal turned to Carrie, our machine shop manager for a solution. Working together, they devised a method of manufacturing the Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene bearings on a Computer-Numerically Controlled machine, with higher quality and faster results, producing a high-quality product with far less waste than before. This gave a breath of new life to a high-quality product that seemed destined for obsolescence. Once again, our Hitch Mount Mast is now in production. 73 de N6EY

Date created December 31, 1969

More Than Just Field Day

Summer is nearly upon us, and hams all over are preparing to hit the road, take to the hills, or find a nice shady spot to set up a portable station. At this point, you might assume that we're talking about Field Day, but actually, there are two other events that lend themselves to fresh air and getting "active" with Amateur Radio. Particularly, the ARRL June VHF Contest (http://www.arrl.org/contests) and the CQ WW VHF Contest in July (http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com). These two events have separate categories for portable and rover stations and are a great way to continue the fun of Field Day. Rover stations can be self-contained mobile VHF/UHF stations, or they can be quick-deploy portable stations that move from grid to grid, racking up points with every move. Portable operation allows for vacation style operation, selecting a single fixed operating point for maximum points. Either way, there is plenty of summer radio fun to go around! So pick up some quality antenna products from M2 and "Take it to the Field!" -- de N6EY

Date created December 31, 1969

FROM MIKE'S SHACK -

Well, here it is: “E season” for 6M (and maybe some 2M as well). In my case I just barely got everything repaired from the major 100 MPH wind storm we had in Early December. My 4 X 6M9KHW array was really destroyed when the H frame crossboom broke. The 24 hour long wind did no antenna damage until the four antennas and sections of crossboom started banging against the tower. Every element was eventually bent or broken! I was able to straighten about 75% of the elements and replace the others. So now I am back up and ready for some serious E openings! In the mid West and Eastern part of the USA, the Europeans will be roaring in someplace almost on a daily basis. Out here on the West coast we will get several Caribbean and Central and South American openings but catching Europe is a real challenge. It was once thought that working Europe from the USA during the E season was next to impossible but now with beacons and big strong European TV stations as band opening indicators, many hams have upped their DXCC count. Of course the ON4KST web site (http://www.on4kst.com/index.php) and DX Sherlock (http://www.vhfdx.info/spots/map.php) are invaluable in coordinating SKEDS and monitoring maps showing where propagation exists. So the only thing that prevents a dedicated 6M operator from working some rare DX in the upcoming months is either bad timing or more likely, low antenna gain and low output power. M2 has a large assortment of great Yagis from the 6M5X and 6M7JHV to the 6M9KHW and the 6M11JKV to give you a real “leg up” on the propagation. And of course there is no substitute for “instant on” power like the brand new 6M1K2 solid state amplifier. DXpeditions to really rare places will also be timed for the peak of the E season. Be sure you are ready when the band starts to POP! 73 and CU on 6M! Mike, K6MYC

Date created December 31, 1969

"Mike's Thoughts" 80M Yagis....Linear Loading or Coils?

A half wave dipole on a 80m is about 130 feet or 40 meters long. Most of us humans think an element that long is difficult to build an rotate much less keep up in the air reliably even for a single winter. So what size would be worthy to try? Something 75 to 100 feet might be manageable. So how do we shrink the length and maintain most of the performance and efficiency? Having built linear loaded 80m yagi’s since 1980, I know the concept works. I physically modeled the first dual driven, linear loaded 4 element yagi at a frequency of 144 MHz. Scaling the element sizes was difficult but I was able to optimize spacing and linear loading location. Once the model worked at 144 MHz, I then measured the resonance of each element individually and scaled the results by 38:1 and I had a full size starting point. It turned out to need very little tweaking. The first 80M4ll was built for Arnold Tamchin, (W2HCW). Arnold wanted 20dB front and back and that is what he got. He wanted good bandwidth and the dual driven element and I gave him just that. Elements ended up at about 94 ft long and the boom was 76 Ft. Big? Yes, did it play?..Yes, enough to make Arnold gush! I put up the same thing on the West Coast and started working for Europeans reliably in the dx window at 3.790-3.800 SSB. Now along comes “Computer Modeling”. Fortran based in the beginning and then in basic. Nec and mininec followed and Brian Beezley. K6STI produced YO (Yagi Optimizer) and AO (Antenna Optimizer), mininec based programs. Roy Lewellen (W7EL), followed with eznec and elnec, nec based programs. This started a modeling frenzy. There was one problem however, nec based programs do not model linear loading accurately. But many modelers using nec based modeling built linear loaded antennas and found they did not work?? Substituting coils for the linear loading did the job however. I was the proud owner of many versions of YO and AO. Linear Loading in mininec based programs does work so many linear loaded antenna designs followed with good performance results. Some others built linear loaded antennas as well but for many reasons they did not work well so linear loading started to lose its credibility. All sorts of half baked theories filled the airwaves about current cancellation and whatever caused the loss of front to back and again. To most antenna designers coils seemed like the logical solution. Mechanical design issues are important with both coil and linear loading designs. Efficiency is a serious issue when doing a coil design. A Few perceptive designers realized quickly that coil Q was extremely important, particularly at 40M and 80M! 160M is another story for another time. Here is an interesting side note. When coils are used in a dipole the coil Q is not much of a factor when related to efficiency. Poorly designed coils still work reasonably well. But, when the dipole placed, physically and electrically, close to another similar element, the current in the element goes up dramatically and losses can completely kill the gain! If the modeling program either does not calculate final efficiency or the modeling ignores it, the low Q coil design looks great but it doesn’t work well in the field. Linear loading is much less critical to wire and tubing diameter losses but it still does show up once the antenna becomes a parasitic, directional structure. So to put this into perspective, extensive modeling with AOP (antenna optimizer, professional) shows that linear loading designs using decent diameter loading component work very well and are very efficient. Coil loading using wire size and fabrication techniques that maintain a Q of at least 300 works very well and are very efficient. The results of the multiple years of simultaneous, on the air testing shows no detectable difference in forward gain or front to back performance using linear loading on one antenna and coils with a Q of 500 on the other antenna. Modeling of each antenna showed virtually identical results meaning gains within .2 dB and F/B of 24 dB plus/ minus 2 dB. So it comes down to personal choice based on your local weather and esthetics. The new concept in the coil fabrication that Matt Staal here at M2 came up with allow us to machine the coil from 1/8 wall aluminum tubing leaving a ½”solid tube section on each end of the coil. This makes for extremely low loss, high reliability coil to element connections, because the machining is accurate, the inductance value is the same from one coil to the next. It is one thing to wind a high Q coil on very good, low loss dielectrically only to see that beautiful coil compromised with small area, dissimilar metal connections to the element sections. The physical covering and joining of the coil to the element is equally important to longevity and performance. M2 coil ends are CNC turned from 4” diameter aluminum billet and further CNC milling to remove excessive weight. A special 360 degree clamping connection insures maximum strength and reliability of the joints. Internally the coil floats on 4 thin strips of machined polyethylene, internally threaded, cover. This fabrication technique is a bit pricey but produces an almost indestructible inductor.

Date created December 31, 1969