Elecraft

Operating from a Hotel

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W7JJL

Operating from a Hotel

Horrid electrical noise in hotels because of air conditioners. I stayed in
a hotel in Redmond, WA. I tried using my KS3 with a 28' wire extending out
from the window and a 16' counterpoise which was inside the hotel room. I
was not able to receive anything on any band. All I heard was massive
electrical noise at above S 20-40. I believe that this electrical noise was
generated by variable speed motors in the air conditioning units. Has
anyone experienced this? Any suggestions or solutions?

Thanks,

John Lally

W7JJL

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David Cutter

Re: Operating from a Hotel

Use a coax-fed antenna as far away as possible, even on the roof. Add a
choke to reduce noise pick-up on the coax.
Your 'counterpoise' is part of the aerial and picks up from its environment
as it's bound to do.
73
David
G3UNA

> Horrid electrical noise in hotels because of air conditioners. I stayed
> in
> a hotel in Redmond, WA. I tried using my KS3 with a 28' wire extending
> out
> from the window and a 16' counterpoise which was inside the hotel room. I
> was not able to receive anything on any band. All I heard was massive
> electrical noise at above S 20-40. I believe that this electrical noise
> was
> generated by variable speed motors in the air conditioning units. Has
> anyone experienced this? Any suggestions or solutions?
>
> Thanks,
>
> John Lally
>
> W7JJL

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Vic Rosenthal

Re: Operating from a Hotel

In reply to this post by W7JJL

My experience with operating from hotels has also been very poor. The structures are
Faraday shields, and they are full of noise sources. Sometimes there is no balcony and
windows can't be opened. Take your KX3 to the beach (or the woods) and operate from there!

On 9/12/2012 11:55 PM, John Lally wrote:

--
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
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Keith Heimbold

Re: Operating from a Hotel

In reply to this post by W7JJL

If the hotel has a balcony, I have used a MFJ fiberglass extending pole in the past which suspended a resonant fan dipole and an rfi filter in line and it worked well. I tried one of those mini antenna verticals by Super Antenna and it did not perform well from balcony. With a resonant dipole in 20m and 15m I was able to work a lot of DX.

The owner of the hotel was cool about the antenna but eventually I decided to outfit my mobile (work in progress) and drive up to the highest points in Malibu instead. I am fortunate that my current consutling engagement is driving distance from home. Today I was able to work KH8S on 40m with a badly tuned hamstick (my turbo tuner and Hi Q are giving me fits at the moment) and 10W (top of Kanan road in Malibu). I agree that it is better to get out of the hotel and do what you can in the outdoor environs.

Keith
AG6AZ

Sent from my iPhone please excuse typos

On Sep 12, 2012, at 11:56 PM, "John Lally" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Horrid electrical noise in hotels because of air conditioners. I stayed in
> a hotel in Redmond, WA. I tried using my KS3 with a 28' wire extending out
> from the window and a 16' counterpoise which was inside the hotel room. I
> was not able to receive anything on any band. All I heard was massive
> electrical noise at above S 20-40. I believe that this electrical noise was
> generated by variable speed motors in the air conditioning units. Has
> anyone experienced this? Any suggestions or solutions?
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> John Lally
>
> W7JJL
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

N5GE-2

Re: Operating from a Hotel

In reply to this post by Vic Rosenthal

Or get a pick-up truck and operate from outside the hotel using a
screwdriver type antenna ;o)

73,
Tom
Amateur Radio Operator N5GE
ARRL Lifetime Member
QCWA Lifetime Member

On Thu, 13 Sep 2012 07:33:09 -0700, Vic K2VCO <[hidden email]>
wrote:

>My experience with operating from hotels has also been very poor. The structures are
>Faraday shields, and they are full of noise sources. Sometimes there is no balcony and
>windows can't be opened. Take your KX3 to the beach (or the woods) and operate from there!
>
>On 9/12/2012 11:55 PM, John Lally wrote:
>> Horrid electrical noise in hotels because of air conditioners. I stayed in
>> a hotel in Redmond, WA. I tried using my KS3 with a 28' wire extending out
>> from the window and a 16' counterpoise which was inside the hotel room. I
>> was not able to receive anything on any band. All I heard was massive
>> electrical noise at above S 20-40. I believe that this electrical noise was
>> generated by variable speed motors in the air conditioning units. Has
>> anyone experienced this? Any suggestions or solutions?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>>
>>
>> John Lally
>>
>> W7JJL

Dick Wiltgen

Re: Operating from a hotel

In reply to this post by W7JJL

I have had a wonderful experience operating from hotels. I often use a Buddistick or Outbacker Tri-Split with four counterpose wires (one for each band) cut to frequency for both 20 and 40 meters strung across the hotel room. I have also used the AD5X dipole that Phil describes on his Web site. Wires dangling from the room tends to invite problems at times. Every year I would attend a a professional conference in Honolulu and had a pipeline into Europe with 10 watts, all CW. The trick to minimize interference, it seems, is to have a good quality coax feed from the balcony to the rig. Don't give up on hotels.

73,
de Dick, K8RBW

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Mel

Re: Operating from a hotel

I too have had excellent results from hotels. Mostly with wire and a section of bamboo that plugged together off the balcony. I used two methods. With no wind, I would use a Mylar helium baloon and #30 enamel wire at the end of the bamboo then and a simple tuner. With wind, same bamboo and wire but with a 2 oz lead weight. I always brought along a 25 foot jumper cable #18 to grab the nearest ground, cold water pipe etc. Worked a lot of stations on 40 and 80.

Mel, K6KBE

--- On Thu, 9/13/12, [hidden email] <[hidden email]> wrote:

From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Operating from a hotel
To: [hidden email]
Date: Thursday, September 13, 2012, 12:40 PM

I have had a wonderful experience operating from hotels. I often use a Buddistick or Outbacker Tri-Split with four counterpose wires (one for each band) cut to frequency for both 20 and 40 meters strung across the hotel room. I have also used the AD5X dipole that Phil describes on his Web site. Wires dangling from the room tends to invite problems at times. Every year I would attend a a professional conference in Honolulu and had a pipeline into Europe with 10 watts, all CW. The trick to minimize interference, it seems, is to have a good quality coax feed from the balcony to the rig. Don't give up on hotels.

73,
de Dick, K8RBW

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Ignacy

Re: Operating from a Hotel

In reply to this post by W7JJL

I used to operate successfully from many hotels but every year it is becoming noisier. New ballast lighting, more electronics, etc.

But there are exceptions.

The suggestions with getting wires outside are excellent. Sometimes I try to have the wires outside, attached to a TV line, which goes to a tuner.

Ignacy

ve3dvy

Re: Operating from a Hotel

In reply to this post by W7JJL

How about remote

I am going on a business trip in the near future for a solid week of
boardom, so I plan to leave my K3 at home and run it remotely using a
laptop and the internet provided in the hotel. Just not sure how to do
that yet.

On 9/13/2012 2:55 AM, John Lally wrote: