ARLA/CLUSTER: Episódio 196 da série "Foundations of Amateur Radio" - A criatividade vem com a prática

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

Foundations of Amateur Radio #196


*Creativity comes with practice*
I grew up with Lego, plastic blocks that you can put together in infinite
variety. My oldest Lego kit hails from 1964, kit 324: House with Garage and
it's still in pretty good nick today. It's missing the tree and the car and
the garage door is broken and a few blocks have vanished, but putting it
together the other day reminded me of the art of building.

Today I still play with Lego. In fact after a hiatus of several decades I
pulled out my old boxes and started sorting my blocks. That lead to
building the House and while I was at it, I managed to reconstruct my first
Lego Technic kit, 850: Forklift, bringing with it a flood of memories.

Why the Lego?

It's been my source of inspiration for many decades. It has allowed me to
imagine something and then go on to build it. Over the years I've learned
that this is not a universal experience. I recall one friend who was gifted
a huge Lego car, but had no idea that you were allowed to modify it and I
blew his mind converting his four cylinder engine into a V6.

That same eye for the possibility exists in all of us. You need to look at
things in a different light.

One of my friends likes to shop online, he also loves to roam through the
local hardware store and I get regular photos of things that are useful.
Last night I got a photo of a square washer. Plate of steel, galvanised,
hole in the middle with the caption: I've got plans.

I took one look at it and knew that I too had plans for that washer, which
is why thoughtfully he bought a couple for me too - I didn't even need to
ask, it was obvious to us both.

The central hole is just the right size for an SO239, so clearly the washer
is just right to act as an antenna base. You could weld it to a trailer, or
drill some holes for radials, hang it from a tree, make a dipole from it,
the sky is the limit and for only 76 cents, what's not to like.

I've been looking, like all my amateur friends do regularly, for a pole. I
have a large 12m squidpole. It's very helpful to make into a vertical
antenna. Use a bit of wire and you're good to go. It's a little floppy if
you want to hold anything more substantial, like a horizontal dipole or an
inverted V antenna.

So, back to the pole. I'm looking in my local hardware store for poles. Of
course I could go with the Pine variety, but I'm not keen on carrying a
3.6m wooden pole on the roof of my car, or for that matter, several of
them, so I've been looking for other solutions. Tent-poles, pretty
cost-effective, strong if you can guy them and the load is vertical,
there's painters poles, which will require some testing to see if you can
combine several together and make a longer contraption.

The point is, I'm not seeing a painter's pole or a tent-pole when I'm
looking, I'm seeing the ability to hold something up.

In the same way as when Calvin gets his hands on a large box and converts
it into a Transmogrifier, I wander the isles of various shopping outlets
looking for the possibilities that something might have, rather than the
label written on the outside.

Doing this is second nature, and achieving it is a matter of practice.

The best advice I can give is to walk around with 'What-if' emblazoned on
your brain.

What-if I could use this as an antenna, what-if I could use this as a
battery-box, what-if this fits into my car, what-if this table is big
enough for a field-day, what-if.

That same what-if attitude will stand you in good stead when you experiment
with antennas. Don't be afraid of failing, the more you fail, the better
you learn.

What-if isn't scary, it's in-built into this hobby of amateur radio

I'm *Onno VK6FLAB*
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