I have just found a really great article on the effect of radials on a vertical antenna! I won’t duplicate what Steve Katz (WB2WIK) has written because he says it far better than I ever could. If you have a vertical antenna or are thinking of putting one up you should read his article entitled Radials - They make verticals really work.
I read an awful lot about antennas and antenna theory but this article explains a few simple practical tests that you can conduct to demonstrate how well (or otherwise) your vertical antenna is working, and how much better it can be made to work with an appropriate radial setup (either elevated or ground level/buried).
Take a look and have a good read - you might be surprised at what your vertical antenna can do with the addition of some radials!
Dean Amateur Radio antenna, radials, vertical
I like to confirm as many of my amateur radio contacts as possible by traditional paper QSL cards. It’s always good to receive them back direct from another amateur radio operator but the card that arrived today (seen below) from Andy, KB1KYN on Nantucket Island, was a particularly nice surprise.
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This QSL card confirms a contact mentioned earlier in this blog back in September 2009 when operating portable from Barr Beacon. The location is seen in this picture taken on the day of the contact in question. Running about 80w SSB on 17m into a vertical dipole antenna from a battery powered Yaesu FT-857.
This is the view to the south overlooking Oldbury and West Bromwich. These picnic tables make for ideal operating positions and there is lots of space for erecting antennas. While I tend to operate HF from this location other operators enjoy working VHF, UHF and microwave bands from this lofty position.
On a nice sunny summers day this is a very enjoyable way of getting on the bands with a modest radio and a simple wire antenna and seeing what DX can be worked while you enjoy the view.
I’d like to thank Andy for the card and for the contact back in September last year.
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G0RIF/p setup
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Dean Amateur Radio, Pictures antenna, dipole, KB1KYN, portable, QSL, vertical
simple setup with the Yaesu FT-857
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Just a quick one following an enjoyable 5 hours out in the sun working mostly 20m SSB portable from Barr Beacon. Myself (G0RIF), Richard (M0SNR) and Luke (M3VVB) took the usual assortment of wires, cables and poles to see what we could throw up & see how it worked.
As is often the case the Par End Fedz 20m dipole was pressed into service in a vertical orientation, suspended on a 10m pole - this also supported a quick & dirty 15m dipole hastily constructed from the remnants of the broadside doublet previously tested.
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You may recall a previous post in which I’d had a less than fulfilling time with the doublet so for now it’s back to resonant antennas and coax feedlines. Todays results suggest that the 15m dipole works well, although the 15m band wasn’t particularly busy so only a few stations were worked.
On 20m the vertical performed as expected, which is to say, pretty well. Nothing particularly exotic but worked DX both east (RV9LM) and west (W1OP) with a good selection of European stations, many of which were participating in the Portugal Day contest. A contact of particular interest was with Geoff (G8BPN) working 20m mobile while on a driving holiday in France, logged as F/G8BPN/M.
Dean Amateur Radio antenna, dipole, doublet, FT-857, G0RIF, portable, SSB, vertical, weather
Just a few words on todays operation from Barr Beacon (IO92BN) when I setup on 20m with the Par End Fedz 20m dipole suspended vertically on a 10m fibreglass pole.
Band conditions weren’t great and there was fast deep fading. Not as bad as 17m at the weekend but still pretty dramatic. Best DX was VE1ZA/m (Tony) followed by OH0/DL9GTI (Ralf). It seems Ralf wasn’t the only German out and about as I also worked Peter in Croatia as 9A/DL4KM/p and Charlie in Italy as I/DL3KHK. In keeping with this ‘operating abroad’ theme I also worked Dave in Menorca as EA6/M0DLL.
All in all it was an enjoyable few hours on 20m when even the weather was pretty good…until the battery was run down and I’d packed everything away, after which it poured it down. I think I timed that perfectly!
You can see my location on Barr Beacon for this operation on the Portable Amateur Radio gallery page.
Dean Amateur Radio, Pictures antenna, battery, G0RIF, portable, propagation, vertical, weather
I think it was John Lennon who said that time you enjoyed wasting wasn’t wasted time. I subscribe to that view entirely but this past weekend was just time wasted and certainly wasn’t very enjoyable.
First of all the weather was terrible…then it was lovely…then it was terrible again…and so on and so on, all weekend. Alternating sunny spells and showers (of varying intensity), all to an almost meticulous hourly cycle. Very difficult to make any plans when trying to get out and operate some portable amateur radio.
Then the technology (or my understanding thereof) let me down. A new doublet antenna I had high hopes for didn’t seem to work very well at all (see ‘An inconclusive test’ below). Time will tell if the new z-match tuner (SEM TranZmatch) will prove to have been a worthwhile purchase.
Then on Sunday, when despite the weather I did get out portable with my 17m vertical dipole (one of the Par End-Fedz), I heard what would have been two all time new ones in the form of Madagascar and St Helena but both stations were buried beneath serious pile-ups with no hope of a QSO in the time I had available. Oh well - another time maybe.
Maybe on reflection I’ll consider it mostly wasted weekend. I did at least get a few contacts in the log and I did learn a little bit about doublet antennas and balanced feedlines. I’m sure I’ll have better luck as the weather improves through the summer and I’m able to spend more time out and about with the portable station and maybe, just maybe, that doublet will come good after all.
Dean Amateur Radio, Life... doublet, portable, propagation, SEM TranZmatch, vertical, weather, z-match
 Buddistick mount |
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Piggot’s Bottom, approximately 52° 42′ 56″ north, 1° 54′ 7″ west. Locator square IO92BR. This is where I setup the Buddistick for a bit of 17m operating. Just don’t ask me to find it again!
Let me explain. I set out to operate from a spot I’ve used before not far from home. The problem was that today those playing fields were in use and the small carpark was full. This meant I had to find another spot to operate from.
I set off with no particular destination in mind and after driving around for some 20 minutes I found myself at Piggot’s Bottom, a small wood about 6 or 7 miles northwest of Lichfield. I found the spot entirely by chance and will have to pore over a map in order to ever find it again. |
As you can see from the pictures of todays outing (see my Portable Amateur Radio gallery) the spot I chose is in a lovely little clearing set into a corner of the wood. Using the supplied Buddistick mount plus the vertical antenna clamp in my ‘Deluxe’ package I attached the antenna to the rear hatch on the car (see picture on this page and linked gallery page). This placed the feedpoint about 6ft above the ground. The elevated radial wire was taken away horizontally and tied-off to a convenient tree. This tuned up great on 17m with SWR < 1.2:1 across the SSB portion of the band.
Conditions weren’t great on 17m today but there was decent propagation down into the Mediterranean region with SV9CVY (Mike on the island of Crete) loud at 59+ runnning a good pile-up of mostly EU stations with a few US stations. I eventually got through the pile and got a good 59 report. I was pleased to make the contact because he did seem to have lots of loud stations calling him and it took a bit of persistence and some guile to get the contact.
I also got good reports from 9H1DE (Roly in Malta who was 59 with me) who gave me 58, 9A0CI (Fred on EU-090) who gave me 58, 1B1AB (Soyer in Turkish North Cyprus) who gave me 59 and Flavio & Marco (IW0HKH and IW0GEQ), both in Rome who gave me 55 and 57 respectively.
The catch of the day though was HV0A (Francesco) in the Vatican City. I was tuning across the band as he was calling CQ (59+) and I got him on the second call. It wasn’t too long before he was buried under a huge pile-up as more and more stations all tried for a contact, by which time I was smiling broadly with him already in my log. This was my second contact with HV0A having previously also working him on 20m SSB for what was at that time my 100th country. The QSL card for that contact is on the QSL Europe gallery page.
It was an enjoyable few hours on 17m and another good performance from the Buddistick antenna which continues to impress. I will certainly find my way back to Piggot’s Bottom to operate from there again.
Dean Amateur Radio, Pictures antenna, Buddistick, G0RIF, HV0A, portable, propagation, QSL, vertical
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Despite the predictions for a damp miserable Saturday, the sun was shining so I decided it was time to get out with the Buddistick to see how it performed.
I’d read many reports about setting up the various Buddipole antennas - most of which suggested it was pretty straightforward but some of which suggested it could be a bit fiddly. With that in mind I’d conducted a brief indoor test to see how easily the coil tap and counterpoise length combinations for 17m and 20m could be arrived at. This had shown that a nice low SWR could be achieved within a few minutes for each of these bands - so far so good and it seemed pretty straighforward but how would it perform ‘in the field’?
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Buddistick /P
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With limited time available I didn’t want to travel too far from home so I headed north out of Lichfield, climbing to high ground with a good take-off in pretty much all directions. It was here that I setup the Buddistick for an on-air test at a spot just off the A515 close to the intersection with the A51, in locator square IO92BQ. The picture shows the spot pretty well and also shows just how wrong the forecasters were - rain indeed!
I chose 17m as the band to try first because it tends to be less crowded than 20m. I had a coil tap in place for the band so it was just a matter of stringing out the counterpoise wire for low SWR and off we go. Or so I thought. I soon learned that there is a significant difference between deploying the counterpoise indoors on the top floor of a house (i.e. relatively far from the ground) versus deploying within a few feet of terra firma. Indoors was easy - outdoors took a little longer. Note to self - devise a simple kite winder support to allow more precise counterpoise deployment rather than relying on surrounding bushes!
Despite the differences between indoor & outdoor setup I was soon tuning around 17m and I have to say that the antenna seems pretty lively on receive. The band was alive with Asian stations (this around 14:00 UTC) - China, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong and India were all heard 55 or better. I put out a few calls but all of these stations were running significant pile-ups so I wasn’t able to make a QSO but Rafi (4X4FR) who always has a great signal gave me a 58 report from Tel Aviv which was encouraging (I was running 50w SSB).
Turning to 20m (which was very busy on this afternoon) and a quick change to the setup, with the same observations re indoor/outdoor and ground effect, I again found the Buddistick to be very lively on receive. On transmit I got a 53 report from Rocco (VE3YJ) near Toronto and a 59 report from CS0RCL/P - these were 59+ and 56 respectively with me.
These brief tests were conducted with the Buddistick antenna mounted on top of a camera tripod with the feed point about 4ft above the ground and the counterpoise wire running away horizontally averaging 2-3ft elevation over adjacent bushes. Encouraging results for the first time out I think and I am certainly looking forward to using the antenna a lot more over the summer.
You can view the pictures of this antenna and other portable operations on the Portable Amateur Radio gallery page.
Dean Amateur Radio, Pictures antenna, Buddistick, portable, vertical
The ‘Buddistick’
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Antennas make all the difference. To that end I have recently invested in a number of new antennas for portable operation - a Buddistick vertical for HF + 6m and a SOTA 2m/70cm beam for well, 2m and 70cm. I’ll write more about the SOTA beam later - this post is going to concentrate on the Buddistick.
The Buddistick is a shortened vertical antenna with a loading coil and mount. It breaks down into small pieces for easy travel and a nice zippered bag is available (which I have) that can be stuffed with antenna parts, radials, mount, and a 25-foot run of coax - together this little package weighs in at under 4 pounds. This make for a real ‘go anywhere’ HF antenna that takes up very little space in the car and that can easily
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be carried in hand luggage when flying (making it an ideal holiday antenna). I’ll be reporting back soon with the results of my first on air experience - I hope to make another trip to the Barr Beacon in the next week or so.
Dean Amateur Radio antenna, Buddistick, portable, vertical
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Barr Beacon is the highest point in the West Midlands and lies close to the suburbs of Walsall and Aldridge, with Great Barr and Pheasey to the south, and Streetly to the east. Barr Beacon rises to a height of 227 metres and is an important regional landmark offering excellent views over the surrounding area. It also has a great take-off in all directions for radio signals. It was for these reasons that we chose Barr Beacon for some portable amateur radio operations.
The benefits of operating portable from hilltops are the refreshing low-noise HF radio environment of more remote locations and a receiver powered by batteries. It really has to be experienced to be believed! Here, the portable HF operator enjoys a huge receive advantage over fixed stations and, if conditions are poor, it can make all the difference when it comes to completing the QSO.
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G0RIF/P on 6m
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This kind of portable operation can also allow the erection of larger and more exotic antennas than might be possible at home. It can also serve as a bit of a social gathering to meet some friends and enjoy getting on the air together. So it was that I (callsign G0RIF), Richard (M0SNR), Luke (M3VVB) and Bob (G6LPB) met up to try out some new antenna ideas atop Barr Beacon today.
Richard took along his recently built Moxon for the 6m band, together with his portable 2m SOTA beam. I took my recently built 6m half-square antenna and a 17m end fed dipole built in the USA by Par Electronics - this was used held vertically by a 10m fibreglass pole. Everything worked really well and contacts were had on all bands. It was a great day out and we will be doing it again in the future, no doubt to try a few more new antenna ideas.
You can view the pictures of this outing to Barr Beacon on the Portable Amateur Radio gallery page.
Dean Amateur Radio, Pictures antenna, G0RIF, Moxon, portable, vertical
