Well if you want a REALLY good antenna for QRP, then put up a full
wavelength lazy loop.
Of course this is nothing for backpackers.
My club ran my Argonaut in QRP class (CW Field Day in Germany) using the 84
meter long loop fed with openwire and matched with a matchbox. We beat
about 75% of the stations running 100w.
As Tim says, in a pinch a Mag Loop can be a blessing especially for its
size.
My Uncle went QRT when he went into assisted living. He was really
disappointed.
While visiting home on a longer weekend, I built him a make-shift magnetic
loop which using indoors enabled him to check into his beloved 40m
"Kadidlehoppers Net" daily. He was generally receiving 57 reports. I did
not have a variable capacitor available so I used some Yankee ingenuity
(even though I'm a southerner). It worked.
See for yourself:
www.dj0ip.de/my-favorite-antennas/old-folks-antenna/
At the bottom of that page is a picture of me operating with a foldable
magnetic loop out of a BASEMENT room in a hotel on the Isle of Mann. I was
working SSB back into Germany and all around Europe.
Neither of these were really good loops. They were just "OK."
But it's amazing what can be worked with these tiny little antennas when
that's all you have room for.
The rig of course was the Ten-Tec Argonaut 509 and 405 amp running 25w to
40w.
For the CW Field Day contest, I moved the station across the street, set up
right on the rocky beach and using my motorcycle's battery for power.
www.dj0ip.de/my-expeditions/isle-of-mann-1992/
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Reed
Sent: Sunday, March 20, 2016 5:48 AM
To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: [TenTec] Portable QRP/SOTA
Hi Tim,
Another antenna that works good portable, or if space is a problem like
motel room or apartment, is a loop antenna. For the size they really work
well. I have 3 here. An old AEA in the attic, a MFJ-933 & the little
Alexloop. Alexloop works really well on a little tripod sitting
on a balcony. I also found that in a condo or motel room forget CW,
just go PSK-31. So much noise inside those buildings that it is really hard
to copy CW. The magnetic loop antenna cuts a lot of the man made
noise down compared to other antennas I have used. I've run as little
as 3 watts and had no problems carrying on a good QSO where CW I was running
15 watts and barely getting a few QSOs in because of the noise.
Here is a home brew magnetic loop antenna that K8NDS, Rich, built that you
can see at this site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YpyLAULKqg
I've worked Rich several times & he does put out a very good signal from his
qth with his loops. He said he gets his vacuum capacitors from Russia.
Most of the time he just runs 100 watts, but he said he can run the legal
limit. I wouldn't want to be near it when he did! Loops put out a lot of
RF in a close space.
Another antenna I want to build is a Moxon for 17 meters. Cheap and easy to
build! Should work portable, but probably little much to carry very far.
Buddiepole beam works well too from the reviews I have read, but will take
extra time to setup & don't know about the weight thing if walking pretty
far.
Know the hill you are talking about! We don't have mountains here, as you
know, but we dang sure have our share of hills. The one I live on is just a
tad smaller than the one behind Donelson Plaza.
73,
Reed W4JZ
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