Ubitx: what is the minimum I need to add?

[rthorntn]

Hi,

I'm getting ready to sit my foundation test, it's quite a bit to take in but it doesn't delve too much into actual hardware...

I just got a ubitx, the full kit and I have a 13.8v toroidal PSU.

So there is an antenna connector on the back, what would be the minimum cost parts I could pick up to get going, I just want the smallest and cheapest antenna I can get acceptable results with, what else do I need?

I see mention of ATUs, do I need one, are there low cost units, also same question for SWR?

Say I was interested in 40m, can I get a folding, somewhat portable antenna for messing about with initially?

Just in case it helps I have a bunch of gadgets, is there anything here that's useful for improving my Ham setup:

Raspberry Pi
Nextion display
moRPeus (not sure why I bought this)
rtlsdr
bladeRF (from their 2013 kickstarter)
heaps of PC components

I can also solder.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers
Richard

[F4IUJ]

Hello,

I have got bad news for you : it is all about the antenna
I have good news for you : I operate with a length of speaker wire in the attic.

You can start cheaply in many ways, for instance :

• a Endfed antenna resonnant on 40m (a roughly 20m long wire with 49:1 Unun), that should give you 40m, 20m, 15m and 10m band or if you have space resonnant on 80m (roughly 40m long wire). There are cheap unun kits on the internet, I've just bought one for 12€
• a doublet tuned with a Z-match : you buy speaker wire, separate the end in two, that is the antenna, the unseparated bit is the feeding line. Hang the antenna as high as you can then run the rest to of the wire to a balanced ATU, there are Z-match kit on the internet for little money as the Ubits is a QRP radio

You will need to add a bit of coaxial between your radio and the ATU or balun. You really want a small SWRmeter to avoid frying your finals by error and if you can afford it, buy a NanoVNA to fine tune your antennas.

Cheers

Yannig - F4IUJ