[Elecraft] OT: Small Patio Vertical:

[Joseph Wiedeman]

Hi All,
Now for my two cents.
For the last few years I have been using an Outbacker mounted on an all
metal heavy duty camera tripod. NO GROUND RADIALS.
I orig. ran 15 watts till the 100 watt amp was an option. I have used this
setup across the US from hotel terraces and PATIOS,
open fields, on beaches, in parks and  from the deck of many sailing ships.
I have worked the world with this setup and never miss signing into the
morning net on 14.326 no matter what my location or band conditions. (as we
have now ).
I used this setup at a Long Island ham fest and band conditions were
unusually good into Europe that day.
I did not sell a thing I brought but I could have sold an awful lot of K2's
that day. The crowd around the rig was something to behold and I did not
take my camera.
Away from any AC power source I use an extremely heavy duty deep cycle RV
battery. (85lbs.) Everything fits in a Red Wagon so that with it's 8"
pneumatic tires lets me transport the stuff away from the car and into
parks, beaches and generally into the great wilderness of  New York City.
From the home qth in the heart of the city I am also restricted for antenna
size and are using a Gap Titon that is better than the Outbacker sitting on
the ground but the extra noise it adds to the signals from the surrounding
populations polution makes you wish you were back out in the field where the
man made noise vanishes and you think the rig is broken.
I think the marrage laws should be revised to allow marrage to your K2
because I LOVE MY K2. (almost as well as field day)
My best to all
Joe

 But ground mounted short or trapped verticals using a few
> lengths of wire for a ground don't work well at all.
> Verticals appear to be a panacea for people like me who are restricted
from
> putting up a decent antenna, but they are not. A short vertical stuck in a
> corner of a suburban garden isn't much better than a dummy load. I'm
> getting better results with a wire loop in my attic than with any outside
> vertical I ever used, even though I also then had the benefit of running
> 100 watts. I'm not suggesting full size half waves or rooftop verticals