Hi everyone,

this morning I decided to give a try to an antenna I made in the past weeks. It’s a simple 6m fishing rod with an homemade LC circuit. I decided to insert the fishing rod inside the coil. I’ve been advised that it would lead to a high Q but that makes it quite practical as it’s very easy to transport (closed it is around 50cm).

I went to a place 30 minutes from my QTH that is about 430m high and it’s easy for me to reach named Montecodruzzo.

Here are a few pictures of the antenna and of my setup:

I tested it on 40m and 20m mainly. I was able to tune it quite easily on both the bands and without ground wires… I forgot to take them 😦

Results also where pretty good, specially on 20m.

Here’s a map showing where my WSPR has been heard.

Probably my HyEndFed (and the Alexloop) are still better antennas but the lack of any ground surely has some impact in it’s performances.

I also tested the WonderLoop but results were too poor to be shown. So far I was only able to use it at home from the inside and poor results were expected. But I’ve been surprised (negatively this time) by its open air performances. I want to give it one more try when the Wolphi-Link for my new Yaesu 817ND has arrived. Actually I work with a hand made cable adapter that surely is not the optimal solution, specially for QRP where you have to optimize every single aspect.

Anyway… it’s been a fun morning.

72/73 Andrea IU4APC