Recent discussion regarding verticals, internal antenna tuners and remote antenna tuners was very interesting. Based on that discussion, it seemed the "optimized" solution was a vertical, with good radials, and a remote tuner at the base (generalization). Based on a quick check of remote tuner cost, new they seemed to start around $400 and go up from there. I have not looked at used cost. I have been burned too many times on eBay.
Some have used cheaper tuners and put them in a waterproof bin. A worth while option to consider. I would like to try a vertical here, and possibly a setup for when I travel. Being on the east coast, it is not hard to get near salt water for major contests. I only have basic wire antennas, no beams, no quads, and no tower. In the near term I want to try out (experiment with) a 33' vertical. At Frostfest this year I picked up 32' or so of fiberglass mast. I am going to tape a wire to this that is 34' long, twist the mast to wrap the slack up, much like a widely spaced helical. When setup at home, it would (eventually) have a good ground field (would start out with 16 radials and work my way up to 60'ish). The coax run when used at the house would be less than 40'. When setup for portable operation (connected to mount I have for my trailer hitch, to use when parked) it would have 4 radials of a length not yet determined and the coax run would be less than 20'. In both cases I would be using the tuner for the K2 (portable) or K3 (at home). In the long term, I am thinking about the SteppIR vertical (haven't decided which one). Same deal with the radials. It would inherit what I had down, or start at 16 and work up. http://www.steppir.com/files/vertical%20brochure.pdf Current plans are for ground mounting. I understand that as radials go, more is better. The radials would be black insulated wire on, or within 1" of the surface of the ground. They would not be cut to 33' or less if the space was not available. I am curious on the experience of the group with a similar vertical, tuner at the rig, and short coax run. I am also curious of the experience of the group with the SteppIR verticals. There is similar up front cost as the vertical / remote tuner solution (assuming a new weather proof tuner). Thanks for the always enlightening discussions. 73 Dave Wilburn NM4M ______________________________________________________________ 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
