[Elecraft] Antennas for Field Day

[jeff.h.burns@delphiauto.com]

I am planning new antennas for Field Day and could use some advice on w=
hat
configuration will give the best-cost performance ratio.

Last year my club was 4A with stations for 20, 40 SSB and 20, 40 CW. My=
 K2 was
used for 20 CW only because the QRO rig was not there in time. The K2 d=
id well
so I hope to use it this year.

I am located in central Indiana. The field day site is the local fair g=
round.
There are two rows of wood light polls running north and south. They ar=
e spaced
conveniently to string up dipoles that point east and west. These poles=
 are
about 30 ft tall. The club has used dipoles for several years.

I am looking for a simple antenna system that will be an improvement ov=
er the
dipoles. Twenty-meter performance is a must, but a multi-band solution =
would be
nice.

Option 1 ? Two Dipoles
The simplest option I can think of is to just add a second dipole at a =
right
angle to the first. Because of the spacing of the supports the second d=
ipole
will be in an inverted-V configuration. With the K2 dual antenna ports =
it will
be easy to switch between the two. The tuner will make multi-band opera=
tion
possible.

Option 2 ? Manually turned wire beam
A beam like the one described by VE7CA in the November QST would work w=
ell at
our site. Cebik describes a 3-Band Hybrid Maxon-Yagi on his web side th=
at could
be used in the same manner. Ether of these antennas would be inexpensiv=
e and
provide significant gain. My main concern is the need to manually point=
 them.
How does this work out in practice? It seams that valuble time can be w=
asted
moving the antenna.

Option 3 ? Two beam antennas
With two beams antennas, like the ones above, one can be mounted pointi=
ng east
and the other one pointing west. With the K2 antenna switch east/west d=
irection
changes would be instant, but the antennas could not be pointed north o=
r south.
Is it better to have the quick choice in two directions, or the slow ch=
oice of
all directions provided by option two?

Any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Burns
AD9T
=