Dave, I use a 44 foot center fed antenna successfully on all bands. It is good on 40 thru 10 and will do 80 meters in a pinch. Mine is constructed of #22 teflon insulated wire, and I have twisted 2 25 foot lengths of the same wire together to use as a parallel feedline. I use a 1:1 balun at the end of the feedline and then a short length of coax to the KAT2. The entire package is small and relatively lightweight. I get my wire from Jim (N2GO) who frequently has postings about wire availability on QRP-L
I deploy my antenna in a variety of ways - as a dipole if I have 2 supports, as an inverted VEE if I have only one, or if the inverted VEE is not practical, I support one end of the antenna up as high as I can get it and operate it as a vertical with the other side of the antenna strung out wherever I can get it as a counterpoise. I usually carry along a 32 foot telescoping pole that aids me with the various configurations. I have not done any real comparison tests, nor have I made any EZNEC plots with the various configurations, but I have fun and I make contacts. I figure any attempts to optimize anything would be nullified or compromised in some way depending on the environment I find I have to deploy the antenna, so I just use it and go on with life. I save the optimization for the permanent home station antennas where I have control over many more parameters. 73, Don W3FPR > -----Original Message----- > > I'm looking to take my K2 (10 watt) on holidays where we will be > staying at > a 3-story lodge high atop a bluff overlooking the ocean. The lodge is > surrounded on 3 sides by some tall trees. The roof of the lodge > has a table > that I can operate from. I haven't seen the location first-hand, but I > assume I can throw some wire from the roof into the trees. I > have a 1 to 1 > balun available and some lengths of "disposable" wire (about 50 - 75 ft) > that I can devote to the project. My K2 has the KAT2 ATU built > in. I don't > want to spend any money on this, so a commercial antenna system is out. > > Any ideas on the best configuration to use? Should it be a simple > long wire? > Should I use the balun between the radio and the antenna? What about a > ground system? > > Thanks > > Dave White > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
