[Elecraft] [KX1] On the trail with the KX1 -- Antenna ?

[stan levandowski]

Absolutely 'yes'.  In my experience it makes a heck of a difference!  I 
have had consistently good experiences with a 28' radiator made out of 
24 gauge Teflon-coated stranded wire and a 33' counterpoise just 
stretched out on the ground.  I bought one of those double BNC 
connectors and it works great.  I use this antenna all the time with 
both my KX1 and my K2.  I use it on 40 and 20 and cannot comment on how 
it would work on other bands.  Just never tried it.  Maybe I will try it 
today.

At last week's ham club meeting I brought my K1 and this antenna and 
invited folks to try their hand at CW QRP.  There are always those 
skeptics.  We opened the window  and I threw the 28' wire into a nearby 
Blue Pine and stretched the 33' counterpoise along the ground.  Guys 
worked Puerto Rico and the Balearic Islands.

Probably gained at least a couple converts to QRP with simple wire 
antennas and hopefully a few more open minds.

I also have a  vertical Ventenna HFp.  It's quite an effective antenna 
and is packaged nicely into a very small carrying bag.  It's also 
tunable to all bands.

However, in a "practical shootout" the darn little 28'/33' package of 
wire in the sandwich baggie always wins out for ease of setup and 
overall effective results.

Stan WB2LQF


On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 10:28 AM, Phil Hystad wrote:

> Also, a slightly different question -- does anyone use a counterpoise 
> of any sort when using a single wire antenna?  Have you thrown another 
> wire along the ground to create a kind of ground plane or does this 
> not make that much difference.
>
> 73, phil, K7PEH
>