CQ 270 CW SSB Gang! - Cool Kids Sip from the Hour Glass? (Part 2)

Equipment Antennas
41

Last Saturday, 23 May 2026, I again took the hourglass antenna out to a couple of summits. Although my earlier plan was to hike out to VK3/VN-029 Federation Range the weather forecast suggested three hours of hiking may not be wise.
I substituted VK3/VC-038 Archer Lookout as this is a drive-up summit, located in a eucalyptus forest, where I could get protection against bad weather.
Arriving at the summit at 8:30AM local, 2230 UTC, and on air at 2309 UTC, I made 17 QSOs on 2m SSB ranging from 43 to 145 km using the hourglass antenna. Happy that I had worked many stations on 2m SSB, I took down the hourglass antenna and set up a linked dipole. As I plugged the coax for the dipole into my FT817 I heard Mark @VK3PI calling me on 144.200 MHz. A quick check of the SWR on the FT817 display showed 3 bars but no HISWR alarm, so I answered Mark’s call and we completed the 2m QSOs on the 40m dipole. The reports were 41 and 51.
Moving to HF I logged 27 QSOs on 40m and 5 QSOs on 20m before packing up and heading to the next summit at 1130 local.

Hourglass antenna in a forest of trees
Hourglass antenna in a forest of trees1920×3413 2.6 MB

Arriving at VK3/VN-027 Mt Gordon about 12:00 pm local, I was on air about 0225 UTC, again with the 2m hourglass. The first QSO was with Mark @VK3PI with better reports of 57 and 57. It was no surprise that the hourglass antenna worked much better than a 40m dipole. :slight_smile:
I continued working 2m SSB for 30 minutes, making eight QSO between 57 and 110 km. Moving to HF, using an inverted L antenna, I made 6 QSOs on 40m and 3 QSOs on 20m. With rain clouds on the horizon, and the temperature falling, I packed up and headed home.

Inverted L antenna at Mt Gordon
Inverted L antenna at Mt Gordon1920×3413 1.44 MB

View from Mt Gordon toward VK3/VN-011 Sugarloaf Peak
View from Mt Gordon toward VK3/VN-011 Sugarloaf Peak1920×3413 1.64 MB

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42

That is just mega! Good work!

I had something similar happen a couple of weeks ago. Sat in the Helinox, boppin’ away to some sweet CW goodness (well, the RX was sweet, my TX less so :laughing: ) and out of nowhere I got invaded by about 30+ children that piled out of a couple of Range Rovers and started racing across the field I was in to the other side where the mud was.

It was a kids birthday party so the usual stuff ensued. Boys playfighting, giving each other dead arms, screaming, throwing mud at each other and the rest of it. Only this time fuelled off their heads with sugar, additives and e numbers!

Then they saw the antenna and muggins here working a Pico.

30+ children made a charge for me. :face_with_peeking_eye:

It was actually good that they did because they were curious what I was doing. I had all of their sugar-riddled attention for a few minutes while explaining all the cool stuff you could do with amateur radio.

It lasted about 5 minutes before the silence was broken and they started killing each other again but it was fun to spread the good gospel of radio for just a moment!

I went QRT sharpish lest my gear get destroyed. :laughing:

Loving that Australia has fallen for the BTHG Hourglass antenna.

Reminds me of when the UK/Ireland fell in love with Kylie and Jason, Alf Stewart and Mr. Udigawa. Ah, happy days
 :heart_eyes:

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43

no, thats Fonzie and Richie


the patch job on the boys of the happy days band appearing to play a song by Weezer (Buddy Holly) was pretty good


There is an edition of Men Behaving Badly, one of which is Martin Clunes (of Doc Martin fame) where the boys are dreaming of meeting Kylie, only to have a nice young lady knock on the door and ask to use their phone to call the AA or someone to fix her car. They completely overlook the fact that this woman is actually Kylie. Some very amusing material there. All good fun.

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Well done! In my view, it’s ideal when children are intrinsically motivated to learn something new. Even if it’s only for five minutes. You never know what it might lead to later on


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45

The 40 m dipole may even serve as a raw material source for several DOUBLE HOURGLASS antennas. :wink:

DHA_Double-Hourglass-Antenna
DHA_Double-Hourglass-Antenna1125×2000 229 KB

Entertaining report, as always.:+1:

Thanks for sharing, Peter

6 Likes
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I remember that episode when it originally aired. Also, you weren’t a real Neighbours fan unless you came home from school for lunch and watched it twice a day on BBC One!

Then when Home and Away came along (around 1989 I think?) they aired seamlessly. When Neighbours finished, Home and Away started on ITV at 6pm. Genius! :laughing:

I wonder what happened to Mr. Udagawa
? :thinking:

47

Hi Roman,

If I am not mistaken, you also collected quite a number of 2 m S2S QSOs. Well done, and nice pictures btw :+1: .

My favourite is the one with the cow close by.:wink:

Cheers, Peter

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 this is correct, Peter. There were - among others - at least five S2S-QSOs in the 300+ km range. The ODX was with @OE5HKT on OE/NO-312 across almost 420km.

HB-AI-012_2
HB-AI-012_21024×768 219 KB

The cows were pretty relaxed, but still on their guard. When I stood up to tighten the tarp, some of them backed away. In case a cow had shown signs of aggressive behavior, I probably would have abandoned the radio and jumped over the nearby barbed-wire fence :cow_face: :cowboy_hat_face:

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what’s involved in making a double hourglass antenna? Any drawings/ measurements etc?

Geoff vk3sq

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Geoff, you have to scroll up a bit.
Entry# 10

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51


thank you Roman, a great help.

Geoff vk3sq

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:+1:

Thanks, Roman!

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Hi Geoff,

in case you need any more information in addition to what is already included in this thread, just let me know. Building a DOUBLE hourglass antenna (DHA) is almost as easy as building a single one (SHA). There are several different ways for the practical realization, e. g. using the 6 mm Al pipe just for the dipole element and forming the 4 delta loops from two 2λ long wires, spread apart by wood sticks or plastic spacers. Also using brass instead of Al pipes and soldering the connections to the wires are only examples from the unlimited set of options. The contact points to the pole offer another field for the development of brackets / clamps / fixtures.

Isn’t it a great hobby, that offers so many opportunities for being creative? :wink:

73 Peter, DM7KN

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yes a great hobby :+1: :+1:. Tell me what is the overall length of the wire used for DHG ant.

Geoff vk3sq

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Brad Turner Double Hourglass (BTDHG) :laughing:

:100:

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56

Hi Geoff,

as they used to say at Radio Eriwan „it depends“. Let’s do the math together. Formally, the Double Hourglass Antenna (DHA) consists of four delta loops, each with one lambda circumference. Since the upper two and the lower two delta loops (or two single hourglasses) can be formed by twisting a corresponding oblong, the loops above and below the dipole must be 2 λ long.

DM7KN_From-the-Oblong-to-the-DHA
DM7KN_From-the-Oblong-to-the-DHA1920×1781 298 KB

I have not built my DHA from wire only, but if you look at the picture close to the beginning of this thread, and you add up the elements [1 x 0.432 (in my case Al pipe) plus two times 1.719 for the diagonal wires], you end up with 3.44 m of wire. This would cover one part and the dipole still be made out of Al or brass pipe. In total you would need roughly 7 m of wire (plus the non-wire dipole). The exact dimensions may differ a bit, depending on the type of wire used and how the dipole element is designed.

So, to cut a long story (wire) short, Peter’s (@VK3ZPF) 40 m shortwave dipole would provide enough wire for at least two double hourglass antennas.:wink:

73 Peter, DM7KN

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I’ve got a portable 160m dipole that doesn’t work very well - plenty of wire can be farmed from that. :rofl:

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Yesterday, Saturday 6 June 2026, I revisited VK3/VC-028 Dingo Ridge. I had visited this summit 7 times before, so I knew what was ahead of me.
The drive to the trailhead is about 45 minutes from home on a mix of freeway, country road and a forest dirt road.
Dingo Ridge is the fifth lowest SOTA summit in the VK3/VC region,
Arriving at the trailhead at about 8:10 am I prepared for the forecasted possible light rain, packing over pants, weatherproof jacket and beanie, then headed off, over the motorcycle barrier and started up the MVO track.

Lupton Track gate
Lupton Track gate1920×1080 747 KB

Like most of the summits I visit, this summit is located in a eucalyptus forest with many tall trees and not much view.
Access to the summit from the west is via a 5 km hike through the Bunyip State Park. In March 2019 more than 15,000 hectares of the park and surrounding properties were burnt after multiple lightning strikes started a bushfire on a hot summer’s day. The area was also burnt by bushfire in February 2009.
From the gate to the activation position the track rises from 190m ASL to 420m ASL.
Hiking up to the summit, the tall trees have burnt trunks with new green branches while the young growth below is taking hold. The area either side of the track had recently been slashed, presumably to act as a fire break against scrub fires spreading.
Regrowth alongside the MVO track after the 2019 bushfire.
Regrowth alongside the MVO track after the 2019 bushfire.1920×1080 998 KB

Arriving at the summit, 90 minutes after leaving the car, I set my antenna and makeshift shelter on one of the track side signs. Due to the distance involved in hiking to the summit I had left my linear amp and extra battery at home.
Track side shelter and hourglass antenna.
Track side shelter and hourglass antenna.1920×1080 902 KB

Running the FT817ND barefoot into my hourglass antenna I had logged 3 QSOs on 2m SSB in 15 minutes. After a further 20 minutes of nothing, I moved to 40m working a few locals. A brief session on 20m returned nothing, so I moved back to 2m.
Glenn, @VK3YY, had messaged me saying he was going to walk from his home up a nearby hill to try and make contact. When I returned to 2m I heard Glenn talking with Paul VK3IH and I was able to log both stations as well as one other on 2m. I also called @VK3PF on the phone and tried to get a QSO with him, but we couldn’t complete it. I could hear Peter’s 100 Watts, but my 5 Watts just wasn’t making it back. Peter asked if I had a morse key to try CW but I did not. Maybe next time.
Operating position at Dingo Ridge VK3/VC-028
Operating position at Dingo Ridge VK3/VC-0281920×1080 869 KB

After over 1 hour on the summit I finished with six 2m SSB QSOs, ranging from 36 to 94 km, and 10 QSOs on 40m SSB.
The hike back down to the gate was easier than the hike up, taking 70 minutes. I didn’t need any of my wet weather gear as the rain stayed away with the occasional sunshine breaking through during the return leg.

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59

I think there is a way to send CW with the 817’s buttons on the mike. Worth delving into the manual whilst ensconced in the recliner for that next marginal path QSO


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I’ve tried using the up/down keys as a paddle. Unreadable morse. Good idea though.