My Week in radio
The Vertical EFHW
I Tested my 20m EFHW wire and unun on 2 different POTA outings In an inverted v with a counterpoise, it worked pretty well, but could be shortened. As a vertical, the SWR was higher, and the counterpoise made it worse. I compared the vertical EFHW to the trusty old EFRW in a mostly vertical configuration. That one had exhibited a terrible SWR as well with or without counterpoise. Maybe I needed more radials instead of a counterpoise? I have 2 ARRL antenna books, basic and the big one, so I could read, I suppose. During these experiments, my computer experienced some common-mode interference too.
Custom Antenna Winder
I 3D-printed a nice customized winder with the transformer attached. I modified the code to be parameterized to any size I want.
More VHF
I’ve been discovering I can hear some further repeaters using the spectrum analyzer feature on my Quansheng, so I’ve been adding more repeaters to the scan.
Thoughts on My Vertical Antenna Problem
- You can tune and end-fed at one angle, and it can have a different swr at another angle.
- They’re sensitive to objects in their near field. Is the unun near ground or branches? The same goes for the other end of the antenna. Try changing the orientation.
- The ends are high-voltage, so they’re sensitive to capacitance. The middle is high-current, low-voltage.
- Vertical antenna will have very different conditions at each end. inverted-V or horizontal will have more similar conditions at each end.
- RF comes from the current in the middle.
- Vertical is an inexact science.
- The tree effects it.
- 50ft of coax helps provide RF ground, and less can be a problem.
- Watch height of unun.
- The Smith chart on the NanoVNA can help evaluate what’s happening.
- Crossover point on the chart can show the tuning and the swr
- Is it environmental or the wire?
- Counterpoise placement can be sensitive.
- Add radials for vertical.
Interesting Bits from Other People
- Tim, W3QP, did the W2 SOTA campout: 6 summits and 32 contacts, mostly VHF.
- Chuck, NA3CW, talked about accomplishing an 75M net using online WebSDRs to hear, because propagation was so bad.
- Rob, K3VIL, is having fun with his QRP IC-705.