A 51 foot end fed wire antenna

In the video by a K1YPP he describes a 51 ft wire antenna with variable lengths of counterpoise. I strung up such a wire and ran it to my Tuna Tunah ii matchbox and have been experimenting with it. Just had two brief SSB QSOs via MidCars on 7.258 using the FT-817nd at 5 watts. One was with KB8OKJ over in Midland, MI, jsut over 200 miles east. The other was with N9AER in East Peoria, IL, about 150 miles. Both were about S8 here and gave me S7 and S9 reports respectively. Signals from various stations on both the 51 ft setup and my G5RV sound quite similar. I'll try other bands as well over the next few days but am encouraged.

The above was written around noon CDT. Tonight, around 10:30pm I had two more QSOs, both using CW and on the 51ft wire. One with a W2DNX in NJ, about 750 miles on 30 meters. The other on 20 meters with KF7YHB in AZ. Both bands appeared to be dying so I was totally surprised to make contact. Both were calling CQ. So far I am liking this 51 ft random wire with about 15 feet of counterpoise just tossed on the ground, or rather dropping about five feet from the window sill and then lying on the ground. The 51 ft wire goes from the same 5 ft window sill to a tree in the yard with the far end perhaps 20 feet up.

I've now had seven solid SSB and CW QSOs on 40, 30 and 20 meters, all using five watts and the Tuna Tunah II tuner and am convinced this is a sound antenna. It is hard to compare it with others and say that it is better or worse but it clearly works, is versatile and is simple, providing you have a tuner. Clearly it is a good candidate for the backpacking trip to Glacier.

Field Day station set up at the Silver Eagles RC Flying Club field. My 51' end fed antenna is circled with the yellow circle in the center right area of the photo.

6/28/15 As part of our field day station I set up my FT-817ND AND a 51ft end fed wire driven by my Tuna Tunah II tuner. The picture at left shows why it is so attractive. The rig is just out of the photo to the left. It is connected by coax to the Tuna Tunah II shown just above the top right corner of the clipboard. From the antenna connector on the tuner a wire goes to the piece of 1/2 gas pipe near the corner of the table. I've circled it so you can see it. Then the antenna element swings out and upward to the right. The circle to the right of the center of the photo shows the element. It starts at table height and ends up about six feet above ground where the rope ties to it which in turn is tossed over the trees in the background. An approximately eight foot counterpoise connects to the transceiver/tuner ground side. That's it. It gave me three good contacts on 80 meters, all at five watts.

I like this antenna.