Have a watch of K6ARK’s recent video on his “smallest possible all-mode” set up. From what I can tell, he has one of his matching units attached to a wire cut for 80m, with marks on it for different wavelengths, and he just unwinds it to the length he needs for a band. Regardless of whether you take this approach, Adam’s kit instructions are really good for building an endfed.
I have been using Aliexpress fishing poles, but if you can get the Decathlon one, you might be better off.
Have fun!
I was mentioned somewhere in this thread, I think. Too much to read, but here’s my tuppence-worth.
A 25cm section of poly waste pipe. Jam it in a cairn or build some rocks around it, or even push it in sand, snow or soft ground. Pop the pole inside. Voila! No guys needed.
Alternatively, a single long guy, going quite high up your pole. Put it on the side the wind is coming from. Arrange the EFHW in a shallow V away from the guy. Voila #2.
For QRP, don’t worry about coax length, height of feed, or even using coax at all. Don’t worry about whether it’s inverted V, sloper, inverted L sloper or chucked up a tree. It will work and should match ok.
Ok, not many trees in some parts of the Hebrides, however plenty of wind. 
Have fun!
If you don’t have an antenna analyzer to tune your homemade 40m EFHW and would like to use one, once you’ve made it, I would be happy to meet you on Whernside summit with my AA-35 for tuning and testing at a mutually-convenient date before you go.
Thank you.
I have a genuine nanoVNA which I use for antenna analysis.
I’ve finished swapping the band parts on my Radio Kits Explorer this evening. The reworking went without issue, you can’t even see where I’ve touched.
I’ll apply power tomorrow, I wanted to read the manual to work out how to reset the firmware or whether I need to reset it at all.
73, Colin
Hi Colin,
Many people have given great advice. Some additional points would be.
It is much quicker to setup an EFHW if you do not have a fixed attachment for the pole at the middle point of the wire. Using a loop that can slide along the antenna wire allows flexibility is where the pole sits in relation to your operating position.
I generally setup the inverted v with a slight angle and used the antenna to guy the pole against the wind, with the pole stuck in-between rocks, a stake or tube in the ground, or just leaning against the wire. I’ve experienced surprisingly few collapses since I have started using this method, even with the sliding loop. I still carry guys but don’t tend to use them.
The full sized EFHW is broadband and very tolerant to variations in height, ground conditions and setup.
Have a great trip.
73, Kevin
I have been experimenting with a loading coil to produce a 2-band vertical for non-harmonically related bands. I have found that a 21uH homebrew coil gives me a variety of dual-bands from 20 and above. So far, only 10 and 12 is an issue, but a coil with less inductance would work here too.
That’s my policy as well Andy. As I sometimes (used to be often) have a 2m beam to support, I use the SOTAbeams rotator guying fitting which I find excellent. I’ve had a 60/40/30m dipole and a 5 element 2m beam on the pole at the same time many times.
When I use my EFHW, I always deploy it as an inverted L fed via 49:1 unun 1 metre up the pole and with the outer end 1m above the ground if I can arrange it that way. On summits where I’m likely to be alone, I use a walking pole, but it really all depends on the ground. Where needs must, etc.
It sounds like you’ve got an excellent pass-out Colin. I’m not sure I will be around to work you as we’ve a couple of family events at the end of the month, so I hope everything works out well for you. I’ve used a bike for a couple of HEMA summits and very enjoyable it was… which reminds me, I must get a bike rack for the new vehicle. Something else to do!
73, Gerald
Ok, just an update of where I am at.
I built a dedicated EFHW and tested it last week. I had a nice CW QSO on 40m with G3MCK who responded to my CQ. Tests also concluded that my antenna works ok on 20m and 15m too.
I’m using my 5m pole to hold up the EFHW and I’m using the EA2BD method of attaching the wire to the pole.
My 5m pole fits fairly well across the top tube of my bike, held on by velcro straps.
I have decided to use my FT817 as whilst it’s twice as heavy as the Radio Kits Explorer, it does not need a high voltage to run it. My only 4S LiFePO4 weighs around 750g, whereas 2 off 3S lipos with the same aH total weigh half as much, at 330g. The FT817 offers a built in VSWR ‘indication’ and other bands. When all is added up, it makes more sense to take the heavier FT817 as it needs less ancillary items. I’ve saved a little bit of weight from the FT817 by ditching the vinyl case (which weighs more than my MTR by itself!) and fabricating a control protector with a strip of aluminium (15g).
I’m booked on the 7am ferry from Oban getting off at Tiree next Wednesday, 29th May. I intend to get on air from a hill (non-SOTA) near my campsite during the late afternoon or early evening. I intend to start on 40m SSB and if there’s some battery left, I’ll try some CW and 20m.
Thanks to all for the tips and information.
73, Colin
Hi Colin, I’ve made a lightweight (53g) water-resistant carry bag for my ~21-year-old FT817 by ‘sawing off’ and gorilla-taping the end of one of those resealable thick-plastic pouches that miscellaneous AR items are shipped in.
One doesn’t need a hard-shell case to protect the rig if it’s in the middle of the rucksack wrapped or surrounded by soft items.
Despite its weight (e.g. c.f. my KX2) it’s nice to take the '817 from time-to-time for a bit of ‘retro look & feel’ or on those rare occasions the 6m band is open.
Enjoy the trip.
I have used an endfed halfwave wire since 2011 on over 1,000 activations.
Your 5M pole should be fine. No, I NEVER guy it. I lean it in a bush or lean the upper part against a tree limb, or build a rock cairn or find a crevice in amidst the rocks.
The wire is deployed as in inverted-L. I tape the wire to the pole with maybe four feet dangling, then it goes up making a chord to the pole and through eyelet tiptop. I must NOT be wrapped around the pole if it is carbon, but can be if it is fiberglass. Then out. I use 40 pound test non-stretch fishing braid tied to the end with a nailknot, no insulator needed with QRP power levels.
The dangling wire at the bottom of the pole is my feedline. Do not waste your time and RF with ANY RG174 !!! Your tuner will not likely work. The endfed HALFwave presents an extremely high impedance. It needs an impedance transformer.
You won’t need any radial with an endfed halfwave. The radio and headphone wire will serve as the counterpoise only need be 5% of a wavelength.
Download this for information on matching an EFHW: file:///C:/Users/justo/Downloads/fred-kt5x-antenna-ideas-3.pdf
Have a great trip! 73, Fred KT5X / WS0TA
Fred, it looks like you’ve posted a link to a file on your local hard drive.
Also, I have used EFHWs a fair amount but always just in a sloper configuration. What is the advantage of an inverted L for them?
Kelly
AJ6KZ
Kelly - have a look at the KK4OBI website. He shows patterns for various EFHW antennas. He also makes the NEC2 input file available, so you can model yourself.
Ohhh, well try this: Antenna Ideas from Fred Maas - KT5X - KE6MT
Several advantages to inverted-L over a sloper:
73 fred
