I had an old 12m spider pole, these are very robust versions of the antenna pole and suitable for many applications. As this was a semi permanent solution, I tapped up the joints in the pole with self amalgamating tape. Its also possible to buy a clamp system, suitable for clamping each section of the […]
August has turned out to be another busy and rewarding month from my home station. By the end of the month I had logged an impressive 456 QSOs, working 406 different callsigns across 74 countries. That works out at an average of almost 15 contacts per day, so there has certainly been plenty happening on […]
This weekend I operated portable HF from the car, but I wanted to try out both a multi-band vertical and an EFHW. The advantage is both are quick, easy to deploy, and relatively cheap. EFHW These can be made of purchased and much will depend on the power level required. The length of wire required […]
Using the new portable telescopic antenna and ground spike I thought it would be good to try operating by the sea. You can read more about the antenna in this article. Two tree island, near Rayleigh in Essex, provides a great spot, where you can park close to the sea. The tide fills the adjacent […]
The plan was to put up an 18 meter, 60 ft spider beam roach pole and operate a 1/4 wave on 3.7 MHz. I purchased both the 12 m and 18 m roach poles from Spiderbeam with the intention of using them to support inverted V antennas and verticals. I’ve used the 12 m on […]