Hi Bernie, There will be many opinions, here are mine. There are many different antennas each with its pros and cons. You are looking for something quick. While I have no experience with the Buddi-Pole system it seems to me to be something that should not take a lot of time to set up. Maybe switching between different bands is the issue.
A wire of reasonable length (and ground system of some sort) and a good tuner can switch bands fairly rapidly. Your length of 40 feet seems reasonable although other lengths may be a bit better depending on the bands you want to operate on. A problem with a wire antenna is putting it up and taking it down and the need for supports. If you can just toss it up into an available tree it could be a quick thing. If you try to get a rope over a tree and have to walk through nasty vegetation and things get tangled up it might not be so pleasant. Performance wise for a single band I really like a dipole. There are a number of ways to get multiband operation: traps, jumpers to use or isolate portions, and feeding with balanced line and use a tuner. I generally do my portable operation while camping at the same location for several days. Setup time is not so much an issue for me. While some may say having the optimal antenna is the most important thing I think there may be some other perhaps more important considerations for portable operation. One is picking the best band to use on a given outing. Getting a good feel for the bands at home helps a lot, as does checking propagation information. The best antenna you can put up for portable use might be about useless if there band conditions are poor on your band of choice. Once you have a decent antenna selected and have picked a band that will be open the important thing is good operating. One CQ may not get a contact. It could take some effort and time. Bottom line, do planning on what band to use, pick a simple wire antenna, spend a reasonable amount of time and you will get contacts! Good luck and have fun! 73 - Mike WA8BXN -------Original Message------- From: Bernie KF0QS Date: 5/6/2012 8:59:34 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Portable Antennas (Is there an "easy" button?) Dear Folks: I have a K2/10 (#6922) and a K1 (#1024). I have used the latter in the Field, and hope to use both portable. I have a Buddi-Pole setup, but am Annoyed at how long it takes to set up. I am wondering if you folks have a Suggestion for a really easy portable antenna setup. Anyone? As a corollary to that question, I hear people say they just "toss a wire up In a tree". Both of my Elecraft rigs have the ATU's installed, and so, Could I just use a wire? I am contemplating getting some fine gauge wire (#24?) and soldering a 40 foot length to the positive pole of a BNC Connector and a similar length to the shield. What do you guys think? 73 de Bernie, KF0QS ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
