PORTABLE ANTENNAS AND WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THEM.

[TonyV225]

I and others on the forum and the radio community are on a quest!! The quest is finding portable antennas these antennas are for Field Day, Emergency and or just antennas that are useful where a permanent antenna cannot be used or maye isnt allowed.


These antennas can be for whatever band or bands and again this is just a simple search of the different or several option out there. If you own these or even know someone with a particular portable antenna we want to know your thoaghts on these antenna the good the bad the unsure thoughts you may even have.



The purpose of this thread is to widen the range of choices one may have in looking for such an antenna I know I have personally looked at several myself but havent seen them all and with new products coming out all the the time its tough for one person to keep up.


I know I have been entrigued with several of the antennas Ive seen that have been surfacing or hitting the market. If you could post links that would be super aswell so we can get a visual and the specs of the antenna and give our thoughts.


I understand we all are indaviduals and what I like thenext guy may not like and under no circumstance is this a reason to attack anyone for their thoughts or ideas on a particular product. This is simply a thread for learning for new and veterans of radio alike.



Ok lets get the ball rolling and get some info, thoughts and views on the portable mobile and base type antennas!!!!

 

[TonyV225]

Ive looked at this antenna because as most people know Im a 75-80 Meter junkee!!


Portable All Band HF Antenna System Ham Radio Marine Short Wave SHTF QRP New | eBay



Video
HF Portable Antenna System 10-80P North Huron Communications - YouTube

 

[Moleculo]

Ive looked at this antenna because as most people know Im a 75-80 Meter junkee!!


Portable All Band HF Antenna System Ham Radio Marine Short Wave SHTF QRP New | eBay

That's an interesting idea and I like the way he builds it - it looks like it is well made. His price isn't bad, either.

I used one of the Suerantennas MP-1, which is a similar idea for several years and was never completely happy with it. You could get a fairly low match if it was ground mounted or sitting on a table, but it was a bear to get a good match if you elevated it. I tried all types of whip lengths and radial lengths, as well. It is definitely an antenna that is truly portable and you can certainly have fun with it, but don't expect miracles.

 

[TonyV225]

OMG LMAO!! Tim let me tell ya, i have been down that road of having a pile of different length whips and putting one in and adjusting and re-adjusting everly one of them LMAO!! Ive done this with a few antennas for different bands. I just purchased a Workman dual band (2 meter - 70CM ) antenna 2 months ago and hooked it up on my wifes vehicle just to see that the Standing Wave Ratial is high and it needs to be cut or adjusted and I havent done it yet because I was nervouse about messing it up and the stinger actually has a load in it midway up and I dont wanna mess it up because of that.



I am really wishing I had an MFJ 259 antenna anylizer at this point and should have purchased one when I had the chance but never did. Those are great and take all the guess work out and and their pretty much gods gift to the amateur radio operator or anyone that messes with antennas. I really want to get this antenna setup and usable so I can do a review on it. The price was excellent at my cost through A1 Telecom.


I have 2 of the Radio Shack 5/8 wave 2 meter antennas and thats what we have been using for years now and Ill tell ya they really get out good but I want to get a dual band setup and I can take the FT-857D and put it back in Kims van or just leave her TS-50 and tuner in there and put the 857d in when we do vacations or long trips since its the same power cable hookup.


I am not an Icom fan but Kim is running a Icom 2200H for 2 meters with her Kenwood TS-50 and both rigs serve and work excellent for their purposes. eitherway I have to get this Workman dualbander setup so when I need it or want to use it its good to go. I thought it to would make for a nice quick slapon and run portable for camping ETC instead of the MFJ-1754 dualband I use for portable that has to be mounted it is a great antenna though. MFJ Enterprises Inc.

 

[northern35s]

Portable antennas? I have a coupe purchased antennas, one is the buddipole, and whilst it can feel a little feeble I'm more than happy with it's performance, at least it's based on good solid concepts rather than trying to convince me it's the greatest antenna the World has ever known with low radiation angle and no adjustment, no tuner, fudgenomics.

When I originally bought my FT817 I bought a multiband antenna that uses a shorting lead for various bands and telescopic whip adjustment for fine tuning, this was branded as the ATX walkabout antenna, but it's Achilles heel is the BNC plug, the antenna is too tall and too heavy for the socket and the centre pin of the plug has a tendency to snap through too much flexing, the plug itself is easy to change, but the snapped pin in the BNC socket has caused people to resort to socket replacement on the rig, there was no way a pin was going to defeat me though from a performance point of view, it's ok, not bad on the higher bands, but 20m and below it's a bit of a dummy lead.

Shortly after the FT817 was released along came the miracle whip, so I had to have one, I knew it had limitations, but thought it would suit my rig well, it doesn't really, the unit plugs into the back of the FT817 SO239 socket and the body is too short, the tuning control fouls on the FT917 leatherette case, it makes the antenna tricky to install and use, but once set up it's ok. I didn't use the miracle whip a great deal until around 2010 when I was working overseas on the Island of Crete SV9. I was originally using my ATX walkabout antenna as it was taller and a little more efficient, however that's when I became aware of the ATX tendency to snap BNC plug centre pins, I had no choice but to use the miracle whip and wow was I surprised. Now bear in mind I have 5W max to play with and an antenna that is often described as a dummy load, however around 400 QSO's later, with DX in excess of 7,000 miles and DX in excess of 5,000 miles with as little as 500mW and I was a convert, I spent the month of October 2010 stuck with QRP and a miracle whip but had the best of times with it:

See what you think here, although this was only around 4,500 miles

SV9/G7DIE portable

Think you need QRO to break the pile up? think again, there was a Euro zoo calling and Mike heard me above them all:

SV9/G7DIE with W0YR


So that's the store bought antennas, I've had more success with my homebrew antennas, but I'll tell you about them another time

 

[Moleculo]

I once tried the killer portable route and purchased the superantenna YP3 3 element yagi. That antenna is really a nice, break-down design but I never could manage it in a campground environment. You really need either a god guy system or some type of vertical mast capable of supporting the weight. I even had one of their prototype DC rotors and controller. It was truly a neat setup, but not what I would consider very "portable".

 

[Moleculo]

Another antenna that I played with is the Wonder Wand antenna. Here is a pic of Matt, W6NIA holding the Wonder Wand attached to an Elecraft KX3.

This antenna is interesting because it essentially combines a low power tuner on a short whip that allows you to get on the air under minimal conditions. It does work, but don't expect "miracles". I bought this one to try out and play with and ultimately sold it to help fund a buddipole setup.

 

[TonyV225]

Thats kind of wild, Is it teloscopic for easy pack and hauling?

 

[Moleculo]

Thats kind of wild, Is it teloscopic for easy pack and hauling?

Yes it is. The whole thing is quite small.

I'm currently using a Buddipole Deluxe setup. This antenna is well made and fits into a fairly convenient carry case. I'm using the stock telescoping elements but I might spring for the shock cord whips one of these days. I also plan on purchasing the low band coil, as well. This antenna isn't perfect, but it is fun and easy to put up and take down.

 

[W5LZ]

I think the whole concept of a portable antenna is fine, and be as 'simple' as it can possibly be. That 'simple' also means that it isn't going to be a very 'good' antenna but it should at least be usable on which ever bands you typically use. It will end up being very limiting no matter how you go about it, it's just not easy to carry around a 'full sized', 'do everything' antenna in a shirt pocket.
So, what are the limitations you will run into? The first would be the band of use. The lower the frequency the bigger/longer/taller the antenna. Will it support it's self or will you have to provide some means of support? That's a 'mechanical' aspect, but one you will have to contend with. Then there's the 'electrical' aspect, how do you make the thing resonant and match it's feed point impedance to the radio. That particular aspect get's 'larger' as the range of frequencies you want to be able to use get's larger.
Those aspects of a portable antenna are on one side of a set of scales and 'convenience' is on the other side of those scales. The greater the capabilities the less convenient it's going to be. So, you have to find a means of doing all that which is still convenient enough for you to do. Or maybe a better way of describing it would be what's most 'reasonable' for you to use?
I can think of a fairly simple way of handling the 'electrical' part of this sort of antenna. It isn't very 'acceptable' to some people, but it will work. The 'mechanical' part, what's going to hold the @#$ thing up in the air is still a huge problem. I don't think there's any -convenient-, easy to do, way of accomplishing that in every instance. One way of doing that 'physical' thingy is by using trees. If there are trees around, and if they are tall enough, arranged in the 'right' places, etc, etc. Good luck with that, but it's a possibility.
I'll bet that if you think about it a bit you can guess what sort of set up I have in mind. It won't 'work' for all occasions, but for around here it has a very good chance of working 'okay' (not well, just 'okay). One 'catch' that comes to mind are all the 'little things' required to get this thingy in/on the air. Figure on another bag with all that stuff in it (and if that bag doesn't contain a pocket knife and a pair of pliers you messed up!).
None of this says anything about how you are going to transport all this stuff. Get the 'significant-other' to carry it??
- 'Doc