[Antennas] a few portable antenna questions

[fourninefour at yahoo.com]

Hi y'all,

First, I'm sorry if this is the second time you've gotten this, because I've sent this to a QRP reflector as well.

Background:
I'm a no-code youngster but a little while ago I bought a 40m RockMite from SmallWonders Laboratories to experiment with and I'm really excited by the possibility that I might be able to store a whole 20m *station* into an Altoids tin. Sounds crazy maybe, but I would then be able to take it backpacking with me. That, and I'll never turn down a good project.

So in trying to select an antenna that will fit in the mint tin with the transceiver, rechargeable battery, earphone, key, and assorted hook-up leads, I know it must be low profile. For use while camping, my goal is to have reasonably fast set-up and take-down times, so this means it's got to be simple as well. (So something like a delta loop is way out of the question!) I have *limited* experience but I think that a dipole made from thin steel "thread" will be strong, small, quick, lightweight, and a good performer. I can also guy it with dental floss or included monofilament if there's room in the tin. Again, the RF out from this rig is somewhere in the neighborhood of 500mW, so given the requirements,  performance is important.

Questions:
(1) The RockMite is solid-state. Does this mean that the RF output is balanced or unbalanced?
(2) Is a (small diameter) coax-fed dipole a good antenna system to use, or will anyone suggest something better/simpler/smaller?
(3) My tent is about 4.5 feet high and has aluminum support rods so I'm thinking that 3m of feedline ought to get my wire far enough away from those? (It's tempting to use the support rods as a counterpoise for a vertical, but I still would like to be able to use this setup if I'm without the tent. Two interchangeable antennas maybe?)
(3) Are dipoles best driven by a balanced or an unbalanced signal? And if I need to drive it with a balanced signal can I do that with something like miniature ladder-line?
(4) Would it help if the station were tied to ground? If so, I have six eight-inch aluminum tent stakes at my disposal.
(5) All other things being equal, the shorter the wavelength, the happier I will be, because the antenna will be less of a hassle to put up and take down. Is 20m a good band? I will have only one crystal.
(6) Do they make really tiny straight keys?
(7) Has anyone tried anything like this before?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to plan this out as much as possible. I admit that allowing myself even one extra Altoids tin would make this much easier, but I like the challenge and even though this might not be the most practical setup, I'm hooked on the idea of simplicity and think it would be lot of fun to build and tweak. Now, if I could only finish learning CW... :-)

Answers, questions, concerns, and comments are all very welcome.


Thanks for the bandwidth,
Nick Hecker (KI4YSP)