Field Day dipole/ no radial vertical

[Able2fly]

I've been having considerable success with the resonant feedline  dipole
(RFD) antenna as was described in QST a few years back and also in the  '04 ARRL
Handbook. Its basically a 1/4 wavelength of antenna wire followed by  your coax
feeder into the shack. Where they connect, the coax shield is left  floating.
Some of the feedline is wound into a choke at the 1/2 W/L point  or
thereabouts, decoupling and forming the dipole. (Position the choke for  lowest swr.)
With the far end pulled up high, they are good for long haul DX. I  have one
cut for 40m and it works well with low swr on 30m, 17m, 15m.  and 10m. Another
one for 20m rounds out the little farm. Mine aren't exactly  vertical (kind of
exponentially curved) and seem to be a bit directional.
 
YMMV of course.
 
Bill  K3UJ  
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[Daniel Reynolds-2]

This will be my 2nd Field Day for my K2 #3421. This year I'm going to try my
Commercial Buddipole (this time it is almost twice as long with three pairs of
antenna arms and the 4 segment shock-corded whips). I'm also going to try
throwing up a W3EDP (85' inverted L with 15' counterpoise) for the low bands
and a compact transmitting loop (20' of 1/4" copper pre-tuned with matching
coax stubs for 20m and 40m).

Complementing my K2's power needs are the internal KBT2, a 7 AH external
gel-cell, and a small 5W solar panel.

My question for all of you Field Day guru's...

I'm closing on my first house today. None of these antennas exist at the house.
If I set them all up in a temporary sort of way in the backyard and take them
down after Field Day is done, can I still be considered 1B (especially if I
decide to log with a laptop plugged into commercial mains, and maybe drag the
K2 inside when it gets too hot outside)? The laptop won't be used for sending
or receiving, just logging. No towers or masts exist at the new QTH.

Thanks for your rule interpretations in advance... and enjoy Field Day!

- Daniel / AA0NI
Oklahoma City


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[N2EY]

In a message dated 6/24/2004 3:03:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [hidden email] writes:

> I'm closing on my first house today.

YAAAY! Congrats!!!

> None of these antennas exist at the house.

There's *nothing* ham-radio-related set up at the house, right?

> If I set them all up in a temporary sort of way in > the backyard and take them
> down after Field Day is done, can I still be
> considered 1B (especially if I
> decide to log with a laptop plugged into
> commercial mains, and maybe drag the
> K2 inside when it gets too hot outside)?

Yes, with one big "if". Here's why:

First off, your license probably still shows your old address. Therefore, the new house isn't your permanent station location - yet.

Second, there are no ham radio facilities at the new house, so there's no use of existing stuff like an antenna put up a year ago.

Third, to qualify for "independence of mains", only the actual radio needs to be on battery/solar/generator power. The computer, lights, cooking facilities, etc., can be anything, as long as the *radio* is not powered by the mains.

And you don't have to take the stuff down after FD.

There's one small *if*.

The rules technically require that you not set anything up for FD more than 24 hours before FD starts. In the eastern time zone where I am, that works out to 2 PM Friday. You probably won't be done closing by then so it's a moot point.

If you run less than 5 W output, *and* don't use fossil-fuel-powered generators to power the radio, you qualify for the QRP/battery multiplier - x5. A battery that was charged off the mains is OK to use, but you can't have the mains-powered charger hooked up to it while you're operating.

Good luck!

73 de Jim, N2EY
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