[Elecraft] K3 working on motorboats - possible

[Barry]

Peter,
     I have used HF radios marine mobile here on Chesapeake Bay near 
Annapolis. The water here is brackish and not real salt water. I had a 
sail boat and loaded the backstay against a ground in the water that 
represented more than the 100 square feed that the Coast  Guard 
requires. What I discovered is that non-saltwater ground are not great. 
I had a lot of RF all over the place. I finally put up an inverted V 
held up by my main halyard; this worked well and overcame the RF on 
everything issue.

     In your case, I would suggest that you not try a Tarheel or any 
antenna that requires a good ground as fresh water is a terrible ground. 
The boaters that do use marine HF mostly use a 23 foot fiberglass 
antenna worked against ground and a remote antenna tuner, but they are 
really salty water. This won't work for you. Therefore, what I suggest 
is that you put up one of the good expandable, push up masts, say ~25 
feet and hang a 40 meter inverted V on it; it should just fit on a 13 
foot boat as long as the legs aren't straight. A 4:1 CURRENT balun will 
allow all band operations above 40 and the Elecraft tuner should work 
great on this system.  I suspect you have a flybridge on a boat that 
large, and if so, mount the pushup mast on the deck section just out 
side the bridge. The added height will buy you a small amount in 
lowering the angle of arrival for this antenna a bit; every little bit 
helps. Feed the system with coax like Belden 9913 or Times Wire LM400. 
The SWR will be high on most of the bands but should be in the Elecraft 
range, more importantly, is containing the losses associated with high 
SWR.

73,
Barry
K3NDM

------ Original Message ------
From: "Peter Kaletsch" <PKaletsch at kaletsch-gmbh.de>
To: "elecraft at mailman.qth.net" <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: 6/8/2020 4:47:08 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] K3 working on motorboats - possible

>Hello fellows;
>
>You are my last hope as I cannot imagine that I am the only one in the world who wants to try that.
>
>For many months I have been trying in vain to get tips on how to operate a K3 well on a small 13 meter motor yacht. I am talking about fresh water usage (Lake Garda in Italy), not salt water, and of a GFK built boat.
>
>A dipole is eliminated, it is not a sailing boat. I thought of using a Tarheel Antenna, but the manufacturer advised me against it.
>
>So normal, shortened mobile antennas, mounted on the device carrier, where also the antenna for marine radio is located, should point the way ...?
>
>But how do I get a reasonably effective earth? I read a lot of negative things about ground plates - fast growth, the hull has to be pierced.
>
>I have already considered laying radials from the antenna base below deck in the invisible area, but will this work...?
>
>I am very grateful for every tip and every help - also to pkaletsch at kaletsch-gmbh.de
>
>Thanks in advance
>
>Peter - DL1MDZ
>
>
>________________________________
>Peter Kaletsch GmbH | Fürstenrieder Straße 275 | 81377 München | Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 89 60 93 - 0 | Fax: +49 (0) 89 / 89 60 93 - 99 | info at kaletsch-gmbh.de | Handelsregisternummer HRB 108093 | Amtsgericht Muenchen | Steuer-Nr: 143/170/40017 | Geschäftsführer: Peter Kaletsch | Sitz der Gesellschaft: München |
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