After hundreds of SOTA activations I ditched my faithful fool proof linked dipole yesterday and used an end-fed antenna for the first time on the summit of GW/MW-034 Mynydd Cynros which is a 20 minute drive from home. I’d seen an advert in the FISTS club magazine so I contacted David Perry G4YVM of Bantenna to see if he could modify his ‘Pocket Rocket’ to my specifications, he did and I was delighted with the result. 78 chasers made my log on HF ssb with another 5 on 2m FM including a couple of s2s. Running 8 watts through the internal ATU of the KX2 I worked stations on 80/60/40/20 meters and the antenna being supported by my 5m fishing pole. Why have I changed? Well I wanted to lighten the load in my rucksack which this antenna certainly does, I even sourced Titanium tent pegs! … anyway did the job but still work in progress. Thanks to all the chasers who made it an enjoyable activation and gave me feedback on several bands.
Great to work you again from the Norfolk coast, a good signal here
on 5Mhz. Still using the 1 metre homebrew loop in the shack, as no
outdoor antennas allowed.
Thank you Dave and great to get you in the log…fb with the loop. It looks like the bands are improving and hopefully we can have a few more contacts in the future.
I made the decision a few years ago that my default SOTA activator HF antenna is a 20m-long 40/30/20 EFHW rather than my 60/40/30/20 linked dipole. Yes, the latter gives some performance improvement but usually not worth the hassle for most summits particularly small or crowded ones. And my KX2’s internal ATU loads up the EFHW just fine on 60m.
I still take the linked dipole for those easier ascents with lots of room at the summit and when I’m in no hurry. It’s nice to have the choice.
