[Elecraft] very small antenna

[Fred Jensen]

Took my KX1 on a cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles thru the 
Canal in April.  I learned a few things:

1.  The Captain and not the CEO of the cruise line runs the ship.  The 
CEO said "Hell No, you'll screw up the navigation, endanger the 
passengers with radiation, and probably start a fire."  The Captain (OK, 
the Jr Officer he sent) said, "Ok but only from our 'balcony' and not 
public spaces, and please don't remove any paint.  And don't even think 
about using any of the ship's antennas."

2.  The "balcony" is really more like a "shelf."

3.  The "steel window" on the "shelf" through which you can watch the 
ocean, turtles, and dolphins is about 6' x 6' (2m x 2m).

4.  A disassembled MP-1 in your bag looks a lot like a pipe bomb on the 
airport x-ray.  I wear braces on both legs and I'm toast at security 
anyway, so I opted not to add to the inevitable problem and left the 
MP-1 knockoff at home.

5.  Buddipoles are bigger than the "shelf."

6.  It's hard to string up 26' (8m) of wire in the 6' x 6' (2m x 2m) 
"steel window."  OK, it's nearly impossible.

7.  If you succeed in stringing up the wire in the "steel window," you 
will become part of the antenna, causing the SWR to vary wildly as you send.

8.  A few thousand metric (or any other kind of) tons of steel between 
your "shelf" and "steel window" have a fairly substantial attenuation 
effect on signals from the other side of the boat.

Just my observations ... YMMV.

Fred K6DGW
Auburn CA CM98lw