2018 ARRL Field Day - June 23,24
2018-05-22 After playing, happily, with my 40/20 meter fan inverted Vee, I am now working on a 40/20 meter trapped inverted Vee. I've got the traps made and I think tuned and will now work on the wire elements. Should be interesting trying to find the right lengths for the 20 and 40 meter sections.
2018-05-07 I think the antenna I'm going to use for the upcoming Field Day is a portable 40/20 meter fan-style inverted Vee. I've been putting one together and playing with it for the past week or so and am pretty pleased. It uses the Shakespeare TSP20 Six-Piece Wonderpole for the center support. The wire elements and center insulator are homebrew. I've had several QSOs with it on both 40 and 20 meters in a couple different physical locations. The SWR is good on both bands and it appears to both send and receive well. AND it does not require an antenna tuner with my Yaesu FT-817nd which will be my Field Day transceiver. Click here for details of this antenna.
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My full setup includes two 3200mAh LiPo 3s batteries, FT-817nd transceiver, straight key, mic, antenna, 25ft RG-174 feedline with BNC connectors on both ends, tent stakes, Shakespear 20ft mast, Mast guy ropes, some note paper and a mini log book. Packed in its bag and including the Wonderpole, total weigh is 9 lbs.
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2018-04-01 I and a couple friends are just beginning to talk about doing field day this year. Likely I'll put together something like I was planning to do in 2016 based on my Yaesu FT 817nd and wire antennas. Not sure what the other two guys will do. As in 2015, we'll likely stick to QRP as that simplifies a lot of things. We'll see what comes together as we prepare for the June 23-24 weekend.