Systems Engineering
New Product News & Info Page
Rippletech Product Featured in Antenna Article AR magazine
In the "MOVEMBER" issue of the WIA's Amateur Radio magazine the article
"A Pretty Good Antenna for 80 metres" by Bill Isdale, VK4TWI features a Rippletech TZ-1840 1:1 High Power Balun. Note I would recommend mechanical support and stress relief for the antenna wires as shown in the balun manual.
Support a Men's Health Initiative to improve the Health outcomes and funding for men's health such as prostate Cancer, Mental Health and other Mens Health Issues. Unfortunately, despite a lower life expectancy compared to Women of over 5 years, Government spending on women's health still exceeds that spent on Mens' Health by over 350%. Plainly outrageous.
Yes - I am growing a Mo! Any donations or support gratefully accepted. 5% of all sales in Movember to those mentioning Movember will be donated to this Men's Health Charity.
For my friends & relatives -
Laurie Burt,
Godwin Cassano,
Martin Van Bladel,
Greg Chenco
New Products! (7 Nov 2007)
We are pleased to announce that we are able to offer a few new products that have been introduced to meet demand.
15/20m Trapped Wire Dipole
A new 15m and 20m trapped wire dipole is available in response to new hams with little space for a large antenna but a desire for great performance without the need for a tuner. The antenna is supplied complete with a 1:1 balun and two sealed traps. Hang the antenna at 8m or greater between a couple of trees or water pipe mast and be making QSOs on the best DX bands in minutes. Introductory pricing is $159 AUS inclusive of GST. See the following web page - 15/20m trapped dipole
Large Face, Dual Time Zone Clock
We now stock a great accessory for the ham shack, a large face world clock featuring 2 separate hour hands so that both local time and Universal Co-ordinated Time (UTC) previously known as GMT can be easily read. Never get caught out miscalculating the current UTC time again! Make sure all of your HF contacts are correctly logged and QSLs with the universally accepted time UTC. Introductory pricing is $55 AUS inclusive of GST. See the following web page - Dual timezone clock
Self Amalgamating Tape
Also now available is rolls of self amalgamating tape. This tape is invaluable for waterproofing outdoor electrical connections including antenna coaxial connections, coax joiners (barrel joints), earth junctions, etc. The tape is supplied in 10m lengths. Introductory pricing is $18 AUS inclusive of GST. See the following web page - Self Amalgamating Tape
Dual Core Current Mode 4:1 Baluns
In response to customer needs for a better performing balun, we now stock two (2) new 4:1 baluns especially designed for use in Off-Centre Fed (OCF), multi-band dipoles. OCF dipoles perform far better than the ever popular G5RV, an antenna we would never promote simply because of its sub-standard performance. The 4:1 baluns use two (2) toroidal cores to increase power handling and provide excellent, no compromise impedance to common mode current, ensuring your feed line does not become part of the antenna system. Introductory pricing is $75 AUS inclusive of GST for the 500w PEP (250W CW) model and $99 for the 1kW PEP (500W CW) model. See the following web page - Dual Core 4:1 Baluns
3/4 Wave 10/11m Vertical
Coming soon is a 3/4 wave vertical for 10m and 11m (CB). The antenna has a maximum gain of almost 5dBi and provides superior performance in all installations. Optimum mounting height is 4.0m and the antenna is approximately 8.0m tall. The base features our exceptionally strong and rugged mounting system to ensure the antenna will last for many years. This base is far superior to other competing models. Four (4) horizontal radials are provided to ensure the antenna is adequately isolated from ground and provides a perfect match to 50 ohms. Introductory pricing is $229 AUS inclusive of GST. See the following web page - 3/4 Wave 10/11m Vertical
Change of Hosting Service! (30 Jan 2007)
Over the Christmas break an attempt was made to change to a new hosting service for the website and for email. Unfortunately, this did not happen as planned and the site was down for approximately 2 weeks and all emails in that period have been lost. APOLOGIES TO THOSE TRYING TO CONTACT US.
The web site is still not functioning correctly, however emails to the main address tony.burt@rippletech.com.au should now be received. Your patience with this problem is appreciated.
Best Regards
Tony Burt
VK3TZ
This page has been set-up to bring you details of any new events at RippleTech, including new product releases, details of release dates, presence at hamfests, specials, etc.
NEW HIGH PASS FILTER ! (1 May 2006)
A new High Pass Filter has been added to the product range. The filter is designed to be installed between your antenna inlet and the TV set or video recorder/Digital recorder. The filter has a pass band of 50-800 MHz and a reject band of 1-30 MHz with better than 55dB of attenuation in the HF spectrum. Some TVI filters are designed primarily to reject CB transmissions and provide substantially less attenuation on the lower HF bands (less than 30 dB). This filter provides upto 80 dB attenuation on 80m and at least 65 dB on 20m. Ripple in the passband below 300MHz is less than 3 dB.
If your transmitter is clean, and most are, TVI is most likely caused by the failure of the TV set to reject strong out of band transmissions from your transmitter. This filter solves most TVI problems. If your transmitter is dirty ( is high in harmonics or spurious transmissions) then the filter will not solve the TVI problem. In these instances, the radio should be repaired and/or a low pass filter fitted to the output of the radio. Fitting a LPF to a normally and properly operated radio does nothing to improve TVI caused by a low grade TV.
Solve those TVI problems and operate in the knowledge that the XYL or the neighbors can watch whatever rubbish is on TV nowadays without cursing you every 5 minutes.
GROUND INDEPENDENT VERTICAL ! (1 May 2006)
Due to a circumstances beyond my control the ground independent Verticals will be on hold indefinitely. Apologies to those who have been interested in a Ground Independent Vertical for use in restricted spaces, there have been quite a few interested in such an antenna. Unfortunately, technical problems have meant that the antenna did not perform to my requirements on all bands under all installation conditions. If the technical problems are overcome then the product will be re-released.
RELOCATION and NEW CONTACT DETAILS (17 July 2004)
Due to a change in family circumstances the contact details for Rippletech Electronics has changed. Please see the contact page for full details.
NEW STOCKIST APPOINTED FOR SE QLD and Nth Coast NSW! (1 June 2004)
Andy Wood VK4KY, has agreed to carry a number of RippleTech Electronics products in stock. This is great news for Hams in the Brisbane, Gold Coast and surrounding areas, including northern NSW. Andy is has been in the electronics business for many years, dealing mainly in the custom controller area and is sure to be able to assist you with any questions about Rippletech products or just to have a "look and feel". Please feel free to give Andy a call, see the stockists page for contact details. (ph: 07 3888 2988 or email : andy_vk4ky@woodtech.net.au)
CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS NOW ACCEPTED ! (14 May 2004)I have been able to secure credit card facilities at a reasonable margin. I am now able to process credit card payments for Mastercard, Visa and Bankcard. Provide your credit card details by fax, telephone or email with your order and your order will be processed the next working day.
RESULTS OF SURVEY/QUESTIONNAIRE - see below
(21 Apr 2004)The business course is complete and the business plan has been submitted. Roughly 80 responses were received from amateurs in VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, VK6 and ZL. A big thank-you to those who took the time to help me out. Anyone who completed a survey is entitled to a 10% discount on any product up to $200.00 and $20 off the price of any product with an RRP of $200.00 or more.
Some of the more interesting facts are:
SURVEY RESULTS IN TABLE FORM
| 1 | How often do you operate | Monthly | Weekends | 2 – 3 per week | Every other Day | Daily | ||||
| 8% | 10% | 24% | 15% | 44% | ||||||
| 2 | Time spent on HF | Never | <10% | Up to 25% | Up to 50% | Up to 80% | Always | |||
| 15% | 23% | 13% | 10% | 14% | 26% | |||||
| 3 | How often person build a home made project | Never | 1 - 2 a yr | Several a yr | 5 – 10 a yr | Always build | ||||
| 15% | 29% | 35% | 9% | 13% | ||||||
| 4 | How often use WARC bands | Never | Sometimes | Often | Regular | Very Often | ||||
| 51% | 29% | 8% | 10% | 3% | ||||||
| 5 | How often use morse code | Never | Sometimes | Often | Regular | Very Often | ||||
| 25% | 30% | 15% | 20% | 10% | ||||||
| 6 | How often use low bands | Never | Sometimes | Often | Regular | Very Often | ||||
| 65% | 20% | 4% | 1% | 10% | ||||||
| 7 | How often operates Portable/Mobile | Never | Sometimes | Often | Regular | Very Often | ||||
| 34% | 40% | 14% | 3% | 10% | ||||||
| 8 | Spend on Accessories p/a | < $100 | To $250 | To $500 | To $750 | To $1000 | To $1500 | To $2000 | > $2000 | |
| 16% | 13% | 34% | 13% | 14% | 4% | 3% | 4% | |||
| 9 | Problems that have stopped a potential sale | Cost | Quality | Lack of Info | Features | No Local Source | Internet | Other | Always Bought | |
| 34% | 3% | 8% | 6% | 15% | 5% | 3% | 26% | |||
| 10 | Operators that own a tower | Yes | No | |||||||
| 37% | 63% | |||||||||
| 11 | Would like to own a tower | Yes | No | |||||||
| 63% | 37% | |||||||||
| 12 | Price range for a small mast | < $250 | To $500 | To $750 | To $1000 | To $1500 | To $2000 | > $2000 | ||
| 28% | 30% | 30% | 8% | 0% | 3% | 3% | ||||
| 13 | Interested in an auto antenna switch | Yes | No | |||||||
| 46% | 54% | |||||||||
| 14 | Price range for a 100w auto antenna switch | < $200 | To $250 | To $300 | To $400 | To $500 | To $600 | To $800 | ||
| 33% | 28% | 17% | 15% | 2% | 2% | 2% | ||||
| 15 | Price range for a 1000w auto antenna switch | < $250 | To $300 | To $400 | To $500 | To $600 | To $750 | To $900 | To $1000 | |
| 24% | 11% | 20% | 18% | 11% | 9% | 2% | 4% | |||
| 16 | Purchase methods (not shop) | Internet | Fax | COD | Ebay | |||||
| 48% | 27% | 3% | 15% | 3% | 3% | |||||
| 17 | Internet purchasing drawbacks | No Salesperson | Security | Spam | Time | Unable to Feel/Use | Integrity of Business ? | Other | ||
| 14% | 32% | 0% | 5% | 41% | 7% | 2% | ||||
| 18 | How many HF antennas used | None | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 or 5 | > 6 | |||
| 14% | 34% | 22% | 16% | 8% | 6% | |||||
| 19 | Interested in low bands if antenna small | Yes | No | |||||||
| 57% | 43% | |||||||||
| 20 | Age of HF rig | Current | < 2 years | 2 –3 Years | 3 – 5 years | 5 – 10 years | > 10 years | |||
| 14% | 8% | 8% | 11% | 27% | 32% | |||||
| 21 | Model of primary HF txcvr | Yaesu | Kenwood | Icom | Alinco | Ten Tec | ||||
| 41% | 31% | 23% | 2% | 3% | ||||||
| 22 | Do you own a HF amplifier | No Amp | 500 w | 1 kW | 1.5 kW | > 1.5 kW | ||||
| 68% | 17% | 9% | 4% | 3% | ||||||
| 23 | Rank problems from 1 to 5 | Very | Quite | Moderate | Some | None | ||||
| 23A | Council laws create difficult to erect a tower | 28% | 25% | 12% | 14% | 22% | ||||
| 23B | My transmitter causes TV interference | 26% | 22% | 16% | 16% | 20% | ||||
| 23C | Power lines interfere with my receiver | 29% | 16% | 16% | 13% | 26% | ||||
| 23D | Computers etc interfere with my receiver | 26% | 19% | 19% | 7% | 29% | ||||
| 23E | It was difficult to pass my radio licence | 7% | 9% | 7% | 9% | 68% | ||||
| 23F | The cost of a tower is prohibitive | 12% | 19% | 22% | 17% | 30% | ||||
| 23G | The cost of transceiver is prohibitive | 16% | 12% | 16% | 26% | 30% | ||||
| 23H | Residence has limited space | 22% | 20% | 16% | 9% | 33% | ||||
| 23I | Identify other problems not listed | 50% | 50% | Nothing statistically relevant found |
||||||
| 24 | Region | ACT | NSW | VIC | QLD | SA | WA | |||
| 1% | 28% | 58% | 3% | 5% | 4% | |||||
| 25 | Electronic/Comms related job | Yes | No | |||||||
| 54% | 46% | |||||||||
| 26 | Age bracket | < 20 | 21 - 35 | 36 - 45 | 46 - 55 | 56 - 65 | >65 | |||
| 0% | 6% | 22% | 30% | 24% | 18% | |||||
| 27 | Personal Income bracket | < $10k | $10-25k | $25 – 45k | $45- 65k | $65 – 85k | $85-120k | > $120k | ||
| 4% | 18% | 24% | 17% | 18% | 15% | 3% | ||||
| 28 | Member of their local club | Yes | No | |||||||
| 82% | 18% | |||||||||
| 29 | Member of the national body | Yes | No | |||||||
| 68% | 32% | |||||||||
| 30 | Do you read Radio magazines | Yes | No | |||||||
| 69% | 31% | |||||||||
| 31 | Type of home residence | Inner City | Inner Sub | Suburban | Outer Sub | Semi-rural | Rural | Small Town | ||
| 8% | 6% | 44% | 23% | 10% | 8% | 3% | ||||