[CVCC] WPX CW - W4PM

[HOWARD MOTLEY]

I spent the weekend on the Rappahannock River in Essex County VA.  Lack of space required a compromise antenna so I went with a MFJ 40/20 trap dipole installed as a sloper to the NE.  It turns out the MFJ antenna should be advertised as a kit requiring a lot of user input to make it work. I figured it would take a bit of tweaking but I found it was purposely grossly mistuned on both bands by as much as 500 kHz to 1 mHz LOW. No info was received or available on line from MFJ to indicate it was made SO LONG and a lot of tuning was required.

I found the info about how far off the antenna was tuned from a KE0OG YouTube video review. Having neither an antenna analyzer nor good boots to keep walking through the wetlands over which the antenna is installed I decided to leave it as it was received and try to get some sort of a match with a little 300w auto-tuner I also brought along.  It did match somewhat if I limited power from my Omni D to 50 watts or less output. With a 5 or 10 or more to 1 SWR on my 50 feet of RG8x feedline I'm sure I had a significant amount of feedline losses so my ERP may well have been in QRP range.

Having no computer for logging I grabbed a pen and small pad, loaded W4PM in my memory keyer and started calling the BIG guns who also had BIG ears. Each page of my pad has room for 20 contacts so as I filled up a page I QRT for a few hours to take boat rides, sit on the beach, or participate in other family activities. All told I filled up 6 pages for 120 contacts. There were a number EU contacts on both 40 and 20! 

I went ahead and ordered an antenna analyzer and bought some good rubber boots so I hope to try tuning that wire next weekend. That 42 ft. antenna may well be end up being 36 to 38 ft. long when I'm done. This experience has indeed reinforced my belief gained from other MFJ purchases over the years. They really should be advertised as partial kits. I'm sure this antenna will eventually work with a few hours work.

73,
Puck W4PM