Odds & Ends

The old tube shown here is known as a spherical Audion. The Audion was invented by Lee De Forest in 1906. This particular tube is a "double wing" tungsten filament circa 1915. The Audion was the forerunner to what is now generally known as a triode. A small amount of power applied to the grid could control a larger current from the filament to the plate, allowing the Audion to both "detect" radio signals (that is, make them audible) and to provide a modest amount of amplification. This Audion is an original from that era and was personally presented to Ralph Gasparotti W7WDZ (SK) by the inventor himself, Lee De Forest. Ralph’s estate donated it to the LCARA ~ W7DG. We are proud to own such an important and influential piece of early American radio history.

Azimuthal Equidistant Map (printable)

Centered on Pacific Northwest

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Solar Terrestrial Data Explained

Home Brew antenna projects begin here. Start building!

A Gain Antenna for 28 MHz

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Brian KJ7OX has modeled and built such and antenna. It performs extremely well! Below is the model using MMANA-GAL software. Great low angle takeoff for DX! See a larger model image in the Gallery. By the way... This antenna is 'scalable'. By making it larger you can go down in bands. Just make sure to keep in mind the 2:1 ratio, twice as tall then wide. You can also scale up.