[Elecraft] Fun QSO: 3000 miles, 1.5 watts, 4' whip, elevation delta 9998 feet

[wayne burdick]

We had great beach weather over the weekend, so we went for a walk on 
San Gregorio state beach. While the family was having a snack, I sat on 
a piece of driftwood and pulled out the KX1. No antenna supports, so I 
connected the Maldol 4' whip, then tossed out one counterpoise wire.

A few seconds into a scan of 20 meters I found WH7N calling CQ on 
14060. I answered, and we had a solid QSO. Art was on top of Mount 
Haleakala, Hawaii, at 10000 feet; my elevation was about 2 feet. Art 
was using a K1, running 5 watts to an MP1.

In case I didn't mention this earlier, here's a tip for those using a 
Maldol 4' whip on 20 meters with a KX1: clip an extra 1' of wire on at 
the top. The whip was designed for the SSB part of the band, and the 
extra wire greatly improves the match in the CW segment. With the extra 
wire installed, the internal ATU found a 1.0:1 match very quickly.

The extra foot of wire also improves the transmitted signal by better 
than a dB in far-field tests.

73,
Wayne
N6KR


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