My Ideal POTA Antennas (2023-07-07)

​My Four Top Antenna Choices for POTA Activations

2024-01-08 ​Last Friday I went out to K-4265 Richard Bong State Recreation Area here in SE Wisconsin. I go there often as its just a 15 minute drive from home and offers several places that are easy to set up - and are reasonably close to toilets! At my age and condition that's really important! My basic setup is almost always my ic705 at 5w CW or 10w SSB and an Elecraft T1 tuner.

After a few years operating POTA in several parks here in SE Wisconsin plus parks in IL, MO, KS, MI, AZ I've settled on several antennas, depending on the situation. I share this because I read about the struggle many have with their portable antennas, radials/counterpoise, etc.
With my two verticals (WRC mini coil with 17' whip, GABIL GRA 7350tc) I always use just 4 ten ft radials. I get acceptable SWR and performance whether in a paved parking lot or on grass.

I have two wire antennas: 1)A 29' random end fed using the K6ARK 9:1 unun and a 17' counterpoise set up as a sloper with a 18' crappie fishing pole off Amazon. 2)A KM4ACK 40-10 EFHW usually set up as an inverted vee using that same fishing pole at the center.

All are easy to transport, easy to deploy and just work! I'm never trying to shake the world, I just like to get ten or more contacts in a reasonable time. I take all comers whether nearby or far away and almost always get at least ten and those few (failed) occasions are never the fault of my antenna.

One final note, I have learned to always have a spare feedline length. Last Friday my "main" 25' RG-316 failed as the BNC connector lost dependable contact with the shield. Thankfully I had a spare.

My suggestion is, keep things simple and always have a backup antenna option! 
2023-07-07 My how a month can change things! Having recently gotten a GRA-7350TC portable vertical, I have to add it to my list of "ideal POTA antennas." In fact it may top the list. Weighing just 11oz and measuring 11-1/2 inches long collapsed, and covering all HF bands from 40 to 6 meters, it is really hard to ignore. It even comes with an add on coil for 80 meters. I've had it for a couple weeks and done five activations. Performance wise I think it rivals my 9' vertical discussed below. So is this my new "ideal POTA antenna?" Click here for more info on how this fits into my POTA kit.
2023-06-15 The photo shows three wire antennas that I use for POTA Activations. The top one is a SOTABEAMS Link Dipole. I have three link pairs on mine so it covers 40, 30, 20 meters.
The middle one is a KM4ACK 40-10 meter EFHW with links for 30 and 17 meters.
The bottom one is a 29.5 ft random wire antenna using the K6ARK ​mini mini 9:1 unun. Usable on all HF bands.
I use all three of these with the most attention going to the 29.5 ft one just because it is so easy to set up in almost any situation. The EFHW also gets a lot of use. Only slightly more involved to set up. My impression is that it is a better performer. But that is not based on any scientific measurements on my part, or even one-for-one comparisons.
The dipole gets the least use. Setup is similar to the EFHW with the men difference being the need to run a coax up the center support. Even with very light weight rg174 coax the fiberglass mast struggles to support the extra weight of the coax. The other disadvantage of it is that all band changes require lowering the antenna and fiddling with links. My assumption is that it's the best performing of the three. That impression is only based on "that's what everyone believes!" I've not done any one for one comparisons to prove or disprove that.
So, by far the two end feds get the most use. I've logged 868 activation contacts with the EFHW, 545 with the 29.5 ft end fed and 15 with the dipole!
These may not be my ideal, but they work!
2023-04-03 After several years playing with various radios and antennas for POTA activations I've settled on what for me are my favorite antennas. I have several criteria for a POTA Antenna. It needs to be light and easily transported and set up. It needs to be multiband. All band would be great, but at must cover several key bands. It must be usable in various situations though a particular situation may be a primary reason for selecting one over another for a given activation. It must be a reasonable performer, not highly compromised. Two of mine are wire antennas and two are free standing verticals. All are for QRP use primarily though a couple could handle most any power level.
The image above shows the comparative sizes and shapes of the four antennas I'll describe below.
EFHW (5.7oz, 466 activation ​contacts)
Forty meter End Fed Half Wave (EFHW). My favorite is one made by KM4ACK. It comes as a kit and is priced affordably. Includes a wire winder, radiator wire, toroid and wire, and coax connector. It is a good cross between light weight, ease of setup and ruggedness. After initial trimming it covers 40 meters, 20 meters, 15 meters and 10 meters without a tuner. I added a two links to mine so it works on 30 meters and 17 meters as well. It (and all 40-10 EFHWs) has two main advantages for portable or POTA use; multiband and ease of setup. I mostly use mine in an inverted vee configuration requiring only one support and the height of that support is very forgiving. I most often use a 20 ft collapsible fiberglass or carbon fiber fishing pole. It can be set up as a sloper but I find that less convenient.
29 ft EF (2.5oz, 460 activation ​contacts)
My other wire antenna is a 29 ft non-resonant wire sometimes referred to as a random wire antenna. It has a 9:1 unun and requires a tuner and counterpoise. Since I operate ten watts or less, I use it with an Elecraft T1 auto-tuner which will tune it on all hf bands, including 160 though I've never had a contact on 160. My counterpoise is 17 ft long and I simply toss it out on the ground. My unun is produced by K6ARK. I've chosen 29 ft for the length of the radiator and 17 ft for the counterpoise as for me the performance is very good and the small size makes it easy to set up in different situations. I set it up as a sloper with the unun literally just a few inches off the ground and the other end on one of my fiberglass collapsible fishing poles. One of its primary advantages is its "all band" performance. The EFHW is nearly all band and does not require either a tuner or counterpoise so generally the reason for using one or the other is space available. They both perform very well. 
A small disadvantage of both of the wire antennas is space needed to set up. And for me, that is where a vertical comes into play. Verticals have a very small foot print and are generally less time consuming to set up than a wire, though both take about ten to 15 minutes. Wind conditions can also be a consideration as a free standing vertical may topple in strong winds.
WRC Vertical (4 lbs, 731 activation ​contacts)
One of my verticals is the Wolf River Coil (WRC) TIA with their mini loading coil with two collars and their 213 inch or a Chameleon 17 ft collapsible stainless steel whip. I also have WRC's tripod with the 24 inch legs. That provides a robust, high performance, multiband antenna. Provided you have a small patch or level ground it can be set up almost everywhere. It does require counterpoise wires. I use four ten foot wires fanned out like spokes on a wheel. By adjusting the collar position and/or whip length it will literally work on any HF Band other than 160. It's main disadvantage is that to change bands you do have to make physical changes at the antenna itself. In nice weather that is not a particularly bad thing but in rain or whatever it can be distasteful! The reason for the two collars on my coil is so they can be preset, in my case to 40 meters and 30 meters. I also added a tap above the coil so a simple re-plugging of the pigtail from the bottom of the coil to one of the collars or that top tap allows quickly selecting 40, 30 or 20 meters. From almost any point of view, this is an excellent portable antenna.
Nine ft Foldable Vertical (1.5oz, 489 activation contacts)
My other vertical is based on a 9 ft military style foldable whip with a bottom loading coil I made myself. I also use four ten ft counterpoise wires with it. Electrically it is identical to the WRC, just smaller and lighter. It also is limited in its band coverage as the whip is a fixed length. 15 meters is the highest it will work. I have taps on my DIY coil for 40, 30, 20, 17 and 15 meters. So it provides pretty good coverage. I use a WRC tripod with 12 inch legs or a ground spike to mount it. both work well, Though the tripod might blow over in a strong wind.
Which to Use When
Why use one of these antennas over another? One of my personal fascinations with POTA is keeping things SMALL! Read more about that on my page where I discuss "My Ideal POTA Kit!"  I also kike to minimize the setup/teardown complexity and time. My activations tend to involve about 45 minutes of on-air time so I lean toward simplicity, spending most of my time activating not preparing to activate. I also don't have particular goals for most of my activations, I take all comers, near or far. Sure, an occasional DX is exhilarating, but I'm not trying to maximize those. That's just me. Others have different interests or goals. And that will play into antenna choices, as it should. So I seldom have a serious reason for picking one or two of the above when I head out to do an activation. Having said that, the two that get the most workouts are the 9 ft foldable vertical and the 29 ft end fed.