From owner-qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU Fri Jul 12 00:03:59 1996 Received: from fidoii.CC.Lehigh.EDU (fidoii.CC.Lehigh.EDU [128.180.1.4]) by oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu (8.7.1/8.7.1) with ESMTP id AAA00383 for ; Fri, 12 Jul 1996 00:03:58 -0400 (EDT) X-Received-x: from fidoii.CC.Lehigh.EDU (fidoii.CC.Lehigh.EDU [128.180.1.4]) by oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu (8.7.1/8.7.1) with ESMTP id AAA00383 for ; Fri, 12 Jul 1996 00:03:58 -0400 (EDT) Received: from Lehigh.EDU ([127.0.0.1]) by fidoii.cc.lehigh.edu with SMTP id <175047-50628>; Fri, 12 Jul 1996 00:01:11 -0400 Received: from nss2.CC.Lehigh.EDU ([128.180.1.26]) by fidoii.cc.lehigh.edu with ESMTP id <174578-46188>; Thu, 11 Jul 1996 23:59:09 -0400 Received: from mh004.infi.net (mailhost.infi.net [205.219.238.95]) by nss2.CC.Lehigh.EDU (8.7.5/8.7.3) with ESMTP id XAA104730 for ; Thu, 11 Jul 1996 23:59:02 -0400 Received: from pa1dsp9.nr.infi.net by mh004.infi.net with SMTP (Infinet-S-3.3) id XAA27434; Thu, 11 Jul 1996 23:58:58 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <199607120358.XAA27434@mh004.infi.net> Date: Thu, 11 Jul 1996 23:58:58 -0400 (EDT) Reply-To: ae4ic@nr.infi.net Sender: owner-qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU Precedence: bulk From: ae4ic@nr.infi.net (BOB KELLOGG) To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: Motel/portable Antenna - (long) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Sender: ae4ic@nr.infi.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Version 1.4.4 X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.0 -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN Status: RO Hi Gang. I've got an excellent motel/portable antenna for you to try. I saw it some time ago in a book "Practical Wire Antennas" by John D. Heys, G3BDQ. Heys refers to it as the "W3EDP" antenna. I've tested it under varying conditions, and while it will never replace a dipole at 50', it is a good, practical antenna that will go anywhere with you. It's just two pieces of wire - one 17' long, one 85' long. The longest wire is the antenna, and the short one is a counterpoise. You must use a tuner and connect the antenna to the "wire" terminal, the counterpoise to "ground". In use, string the antenna up anyway you can, the higher, the better, of course. Stretch the counterpoise out on the floor, or out of a window, or on the ground. I've made two of these antennas, the first one from #14 stranded insulated house wire. This one I store on a wooden reel about 8-1/2" diameter, 1-3/4" thick. I used it in one of the QSO parties with good results. I just threw a line over a tree and hoisted the far end up about 60' in the air, and let the counterpoise lay on the ground. (so, the antenna was bottom fed) This first reel was big and heavy, so I made another antenna from #22 insulated wire. This one went on a 4-1/2" X 1" reel. I had one of these antennas with me when I visited my sister-in-law in an Apt. in Fort Wayne, In. Her only back yard was a patio about 20' X 16' with a 5' fence around it. I ran the antenna up over the top of her porch swing, around the top of the fence and back to my Sierra on the swing. In a few minutes, I worked Austin, Texas on 30M with less that two watts. The antenna was 9' at it's highest point - most of it 5' high. This week I was on vacation at Holden Beach, NC. (until Bertha interrupted) I set up three antennas. First was a 20M quarter wave vertical. Second was a half size G5RV. Third was the W3EDP. This time the W3EDP was strung from the upper floor about 28' up to a pier about 4' off the ground. (the antenna was top fed) The counterpoise hung out the window. Similarly, the 1/2G5RV was sloped from 28' to about 12' I made 4 20M contacts and 18 30M contacts, 14 of them DX, ranging from Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Yugoslavia to Argentina, Costa Rico, El Salvador, Mexico. I could not tell an appreciable difference between the W3EDP and the 1/2G5RV. On 20 meters, I suspected that the vertical *might* have had a slight edge, but certainly not a significant one. I listened to 40M on several occasions, but made no contacts. (didn't hear any DX) Again, I could sense no difference between the W3EDP and the 1/2G5RV. The W3EDP antenna is useable on all bands, 80M to 10M. On some bands, (80, 10) it will work better without the counterpoise. The antenna works like a 1/2 wave wire on 80M, using the counterpoise as a widely spaced feeder. Similarly, on the other bands various fractions of a wave come into play, with the counterpoise/feed helping to lower the impedance to a tunable level. Frankly, I don't understand the physics involved, but my experience tells me that this is a great antenna for portable work. It's small, light, easy to handle and store, and it works! Bob Kellogg, AE4IC Prolably, but not nececelery. - Benny Hill AE4IC TMPS 1996 QS=41 States=9 Confirmed=3 DX=29 NY,TN,TX,KS,PA,MD,OH,NH,MI G,OK,GM,UT,SH,DL,U,3B,YO,F,VA,LZ,EI,SP,YT,9A,XE,LU,YS,HA,ON,UA,SM,TI