W7RI Station And QTH Information

Here's a quick overview of my Costa Rica station. Sorry no pix yet, but my digital camera was stolen recently, and I haven't gotten a replacement yet. Soon Now. Real Soon Now.

Electronics I Currently Own

Icom IC735, purchased new in 1988. I am currently not using this radio as it has a synthesizer problem - mixer injection is lost when the radio is tuned between 85 khz. and 100 khz. of any band segment. So far, I have not looked into this problem. My current plans are to use this radio for a PSK31 beacon on ten meters. As this would place the operation of the radio outside the problem band segment, the problem should not preclude this use. Once settled, I expect to construct a special 5/8 wave 10 meter vertical for this beacon.

Kenwood TS-430S, purchased used in 2007. This is my backup radio for SSB, and I find using this radio to be very satisfying - it has a nice feel, good audio (transmit and receive) and seems to have a great receiver. Right now, it doesn't get much use, because I lack the coax switch needed to switch between it and my Yaesu radio. This transciever is a classic design - rugged, well-performing and easy to work on.

Yaesu FT-857D, purchased new in 2007. My primary radio, I really like this radio a lot, except for the one failing that is so very typical of Yaesu HF radios - not enough IF gain - a fatal problem in a radio that bills itself as primarily a mobile rig. If Yaesu would just put another 10dB of IF gain in this radio, it would easily be the best radio I have ever owned, hands down. As it is, the IF gain is adequate only if you have a good antenna connected to it to hear the antenna's noise floor and so that it can drive the IF hard enough to cause the AGC to begin to cut back the gain. And that doesn't happen in mobile operation, but I don't use it mobile, so that is not an issue for me personally. Otherwise, everything on it works great, and the user-interface is exceptionally well-thought out. I was concerned when buying it that with so much of the radio's controls being reduced to menu options, that it would prove to be cumbersome to use, but that has not proven to be the case. The most needed menu options are accessible with the touch of a single button in most cases, and rarely with more than two. When you need to do something more arcane, two button pushes and a rotation of the tuning dial will generally get you there. With more than 100 menus in it, the radio is incredibly versatile and flexible - you can even set it up to have the meter functions change the display color! I really like the fact that it has a separate VOX circuit just for the digital/soundcard modes, and with its own controls separate from the mic-driven VOX. Made it a breeze to hook it up to the computer and get it running on soundcard modes, getting the levels just right and without affecting its usability on SSB at all. I really like that.

Yaesu FT-8900, purchased new in 2008. I use this radio on 2m. FM primarily, but also on 440 FM on occasion. I standby on 145.770 on this radio - if you are ever in Costa Rica and have access to a radio, give me a shout - you can probably raise me. I can talk to about 2/3 of the national population from my QTH in Cartago using this radio.

Antennas I Am Currently Using

G5RV This antenna is strung between two trees, which happen to be on either side of a small ravine. So while the support cables are only at about 30 feet above ground, the actual height of the antenna center is better than 50 feet, and it performs quite well. In addition, the ravine widens out into a canyon nearly a half-mile wide at the valley floor, and that ravine tends to focus the radio waves right onto the antenna, much like a half of a horn antenna. The antenna is exactly broadside to the ravine, and takes full advantage of it, and is broadside to the north as well, which places the main direction of radiation to the due north for 80, 60, 40 and 30. It is somewhat less effective on 20m on up, and I typically switch back and forth between this antenna and the 5/8-wave 10m vertical described below.

5/8-wave 10 meter vertical. This antenna is installed in the center of my metal roof, and uses the roof sheets for the ground plane. It also works like a bomb on both 10 meters, for which it was designed and installed, and for 30 meters, where it just happens to tune brilliantly as a 1/4-wave vertical with almost no reflected power. Lots of folks have gotten their first TI contact on 30 as the result of my use of this antenna. On both bands, it tunes closely enough that I do not use a transmatch. It works well, but a bit less effectively, on 20 meters through 12 meters. Normally, the G5RV is better, but during grey-line conditions, the vertical usually beats it.

Antennas for 2m. FM. While I am currently planning a vertically mounted double extended Zepp 4-element stack for 2m., as described elsewhere on this site, I am currently using a one-element section of it mounted on the side of the house for working 2m FM temporarily until the tower is in place and I have sufficient tower space to mount the entire 4 element stack. Until then, the single section performs magnificently, confirming the concept, and it enables contacts into the far reaches of the Central Valley, often by bouncing a signal off of one of the volcanos in the area.

The QTH

The house I am currently in is one that I purchased in September, 2007 and moved into in late October of that year. It is located in the municipality of El Guarco de Cartago, about 20 km or 13 miles east-southeast of the national capital of San Jose. The location is a north-facing hillside that has a spectacular view into the States, and is an ideal radio location with low noise, good rejection of South American QRM, and low take-off angles into the United States, Europe, North Africa and the Far East. I have had excellent results on 6m. into the States, and am looking forward to openings into Europe on that band.

The house is on a 1.5 acre lot which affords plenty of opportunities for large antennas, and there are some large trees along the perimeter of the property lines, which afford opportunities for large wire antennas. The current G5RV antenna is strung between two of these. There are several trees planted a few years ago by the previous owner, which will afford terrific opportunities for high-gain wire antennas once they are about twice their current size. They're fast-growing species, so I should have adequate antenna supports in three or four years.

On-Air Activities

I am quite active on phone, especially on 10 meters in the daytime, working the almost daily openings into South America on this band. You can also find me on 20 meter phone in the daytime, working the DX nets, and occasionally in the evenings, listening to or working (when band conditions permit) what is called here the "pig farmer" roundtable QSOs on late-night 75 meters.

I particularly enjoy working the fellows in the eastern U.S. on 60 meters, where the topography surrounding my QTH affords some excellent signals, often exceeding S9+20 into the mid-Atlantic coast. It is not uncommon to hear me on channel 4 or channel 5 working the eastern U.S. I also enjoy PSK31 on 30 meters, and have given many a ham their first PSK31 contact into Costa Rica on that band.

I also do some analog SSTV, particularly on 20 meters just after sunrise and just before sunset, when the signals into the States are the strongest, and the signal from my modest station is adequate. I often transmit images that I have shot myself of Costa Rican landscapes, and that I have collected of the beautiful flora and interesting fauna of this incredibly picturesque country.

Long-Term Plans

I am planning to construct a 3-element, 5-band quad on an 18 foot boom which I have already designed, and turn it with a locally acquired gear motor, and controls I have built myself. This way, I will have an antenna I can use for many years to come, and never have to worry about the high winds in Costa Rica tearing up my antenna or rotator. I currently own a 70 foot tower that is in storage, and I plan on stacking it as soon as the quad is ready to install on it. From the tower, I am planning to run several cantenary cables to nearby trees, and use them as supports for full sized wire quads on 40m and 30m. I am planning two four-square arrays, one for 80m., and one for 160m. (which is only usable in the dead of winter here).

Now that I have plenty of room at a house I own, I am planning to install several large VHF arrays; one for 6 meters aimed at the eastern Gulf Coast, a large 2m. EME array, and several fixed 2m. arrays for bouncing signals off of the local volcanos, and a weak signal array fixed on Florida and the southern Atlantic coast.

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W7RI Station And QTH Information