Am I missing a trick here?
I don’t know if there is a trick involved, but usually I need maybe half of your stated setup time.
My “trick” is that in 95% of the cases, I don’t use any guying. Instead, I just use a simple rod holder described in my document: Portable 7-Band EFHW Antenna
As stated, this doesn’t always work, for several reasons. And sometimes there is not enough space on the summit, that’s why I carry a second smaller EFHW with me that is limited with the bands it’s resonant.
To get a feeling how I setup and tear down my antenna, please have a look at this video: https://youtu.be/z1U7hgbB9RM
HB9BCB
“Easy” is a subjective unit of measurement
This is absolutely true.
The easiest HF setup is probably a KX2 with internal tuner, an AX1 or similar and a piece of wire as counterpoise.
With “easy” I meant an antenna that is not only quick to setup, but also allows to change several bands, with no or minimal intervention. In my case, the antenna must be resonant, because I don’t use a tuner.
There are so many ways to setup an antenna and I’m sure there is always something that can be improved.
73 Stephan