[Elecraft] How Long Is "Long Enough"?

[Weymouth Walker]

The subject is: the "shortest" dipole I can get by with when operating =
portable with the K2 ...

Two weekends ago, I took (very new) K2 #2650 on its first mountain trip =
to a cabin ... I figured I
could lash up some kind of antenna when I got there ... what I ended up =
with was the poorest=20
excuse for a dipole I have ever used ... a Van Gorden 1 to 1 balun fed =
with 50 feet of good
coax ... each "leg" of the dipole was a 12 foot piece of 20-gauge zip =
cord WIRE-WRAPPED
to the balun's solder lugs ... this mess loaded at 1.3 to 1 (1.6 to 1 on =
17 meters) or better on every
band except 80m, where the KAT2 loaded to 3.5 to 1 ...

I worked 4 DX stations: Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria and Florida (just =
kidding about FL) ... the balun was hung on a nail someone had put into =
the roof over the cabin's deck, and the two 12-foot legs were anchored =
to the deck's railing with 2 rocks I found in front of the cabin ... (It =
didn't hurt any that our cabin was 3,500 ft above sea level) ...

I know that kludged-up antenna wasn't very "efficient", but frankly if I =
can work people with a shortened dipole that can be thrown up/taken down =
in 2 minutes, I really don't care ... week-ending with my K2 doesn't =
often lend itself to "pure theory and practice" operations ...

A program I found that says the legs of a 40m dipole should each be =
approximately 22+/- feet long, but given how the KAT2 performed with =
considerably shorter legs, I'd like to have the shortest dipole that I =
can put up quickly & easily, take down and roll-up until the next =
week-end trip ... and still see a decent SWR on tune ... and at minimum =
cost in case I lose the whole thing in a storm <g> ...

SO ... let's hear from some of you portable ops veterans!

HOW SHORT can I make those dipole legs and still expect the KAT2 to load =
to a respectable SWR on 40m thru 10M?

73, Weymouth Walker, K8EAB in Georgia ...



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