Posts in Category ‘Antenna’

Portable with the Wolf River Coil – update

A real QSO!

After 25 marginal contacts with my portable setup the 26th was the charm.  A station in Indiana answered my CQ and we had a real chat.  Great CW and conversation and by all accounts the other station copied my little five watts just fine.  Also, this success provided the necessary push to keep me going with my portable setup and make improvements.

First real outing with the Wolf River Coil

My new Wolf River Coil TIA was put to the test on a trip to Florida.  Using my Penntek TR-25 (five watt 40 and 20 meter transceiver) I operated from a small backyard moving around to find a shady spot.  Below are assumptions and conclusions from my adventure.

a – Operating with five watts and a compromise antenna without garnering the attention provided by POTA or SOTA knowingly proved to be difficult.

b – The 102′ whip is too short even for 20 meters and proved to be nothing but a dummy load on 40 meters.  I knew this going in, but foolishly moved forward anyway.

c – Using the MFJ-259B the antenna was not difficult to tune.  I used the supplied three radials.

d – It was assumed that with the 13 Colonies event, POTA and contests (every weekend) many/good contacts were inevitable.  Also, a short rag chew would have been nice.  Although I had 18 contacts in the log all were poor with repeats and with difficult copy on the other end.

e – This outing brought to light just how well my attic doublet performs at the home QTH.  I have had many respectable contacts with the same radio using my attic antenna, but the results were far different in the field. On the bright side, the N3ZN paddle and Bioenio Battery worked very well.  I still do not like the keyer in the TR-25.  At the home QTH I use a bug key with my QRP radios so the built-in keyer is not an issue.  However, a small paddle travels better than the much larger bug key.

Antenna Inspection

I did an inspection of my antenna the other day. It looked very good physically. In fact, if there was wind or water damage I would have a far more pressing issue to deal with than the repair of my antenna. After all my antenna is in the attic! As I looked at the bent to fit doublet my thought was how does anyone in the world hear me?

A golfer once said….

A golfer once told me just as he was about to give up the crazy game, he would get that one great shot and he was drawn back in. Maybe ham radio with a poor antenna is like that. Just as I was about to hang up my key, I had a REAL QSO with a station near Tokyo. For 25 watts and a piece of wire on the rafters in the attic, that is a big deal.

Working DX with a weenie station

Yes, you can work DX with an attic wire antenna bent to fit and only 25 watts CW output. I have never had good antennas and only ran up to 100 watts in the past but worked a fair amount of DX. Now I run a very much compromise antenna system, lower power and have still worked a bit of DX. Of course, good band conditions are a must. Also, the operator and station setup on the other end play a big part. I have worked into the south Pacific, Africa, Asia and throughout Europe since downsizing the QTH. Often it is a struggle and the copy at the other end is not that great, but when a station down under actually copies me well enough to have a short conversation, I keep coming back for more.

DX with an attic antenna

I like to work DX, but as of late this has been a challenge. A challenge because I am using an attic antenna in a not so tall house, running 25 watts and the band conditions have not been so kind. This week as fall approached condition were a bit better. I worked into EU on 20 meter CW. Not every station I called, but a few. The highlight was working a station in Nairobi Kenya. I am sure a high percent of the stations I am competing with are running more power and have much more effective antennas. A big part of being able to make the contact goes to the DX station/operator, but I hope finding the right frequency to put my signal and some operating skill contributed a little.