[Elecraft] Best Portable Antenna

[Don Wilhelm]

All,

OK, a great discussion, so I thought I would share the antenna I like to 
use for portable.  It is basicly a 44 foot doublet fed with 300 ohm 
ladderline (32 feet long with an additional 10 foot section that I can 
add).  I couple that with my Jacktite 32 foot telescoping pole.  Things 
fasten together with Anderson Power Pole connectors. In addition, I 
carry 2 additional 22 foot lengths of wire.
I strap the pole to anything vertical, I have the heavy duty pole, so if 
I can find a support that is 3 feet high or more, there is no need for 
additional guying.

That antenna can deploy in a variety of ways.  If an additional support 
is available, I use it as a horizontal dipole.  In situations where 
there are low bushes around, it goes up as an inverted vee - just tie 
the center insulator to the top of the pole and push it up - tie off the 
ends to whatever supports are available.  If I want to operate 80 meters 
or want better efficiency on 40, the two 22 foot wires are added making 
it an 88 foot dipole.

If space is limited, or I want a vertical, one end of the antenna is 
fastened to the top of the pole, and the other side of the antenna acts 
as a bent radial (the feedpoint is 10 feet above ground).  The other two 
22 foot wires can serve as additional radials.  Support the feedline by 
whatever means available.

I use a switchable 1:1/4:1 balun at the end of the feedline and a short 
length of coax to the rig.

So, you don't have to be slaved to any one type of antenna. Sometimes 
'best' is dictated by the physical surroundings.  If you want to work 
locals, use the inverted vee or dipole, but if you are trying for 
something more distant, use the vertical configuration.
Other than the Jacktite pole, the antenna is inexpensive, but there is 
no commercial offering, you have to build it yourself.

The 'magic' of the 44 foot length is that the antenna radiates broadside 
to the wire with no lobes until you get above 10 meters, with the 88 
foot length, lobes will be present above 20 meters.

73,
Don W3FPR