Antenna Updates -- W3FF Budd in Redding, CA
I moved my G5RV feed point about six inches away from guy wires and the mast, and tried to raise one of the ends a bit but wasn't succesful. I came in and turned the FT-817 on and it was on 5.371.50 USB for an earlier HFPack Warmup listen (where I heard nobody) and I heard Budd W3FF calling CQ. He came right back to me when I answered on 2.5W -- I hadn't plugged in the HFPacker Amp powerpole! I got the amp turned on and he gave me a great report. Budd was using a modular antenna with a military whip in a 3/8x24 CB mount on a mountain bike, with a small coil in each end, so he had a tuned ground too. Budd knows his antenna design, and it was working great. There was some QRN and slow QSB but he was S7 most of the time, sometimes up to about S9.
- posted by Leigh @ 02:41 z