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 Previous: New England, Canadian Youngsters Log Successful Space Contacts |  Next: The K7RA Solar Update |
By Anthony A. Luscre, K8ZT
Contributing Editor
December 9, 2005
Winter was rapidly arriving, sunspot numbers were rapidly declining and the contest season had already started. What was a land-impaired QRPer to do?
The Problem
Many of my regular readers know my first love in Amateur Radio is operating. I especially like DXing and contesting. It was the middle of November. A few weeks before I had spent a weekend operating one of my favorite contests, the CQ World Wide DX SSB. The band conditions were definitely different from 2004. Ten meters only opened briefly, and then only to the Caribbean. Contacts on 15 meters were down in number and variety. I did notice that my 80 and 160-meter counts were up slightly, but almost every contact was difficult. If I expected other stations to hear my QRP signal, it was time to get a better antenna system for the lower bands!
Now if space and money were no object, I could throw up a four-square phased vertical system, plenty of ground radials, add Beverage receiving antennas in the directions of Europe and South America and really improve my chances for low-band contacts. Unfortunately, I live on a small suburban lot, and I'm space-challenged. Even a dipole for 80 meters would not fit across my narrow lot. And then there is the problem that my few trees are not tall enough nor situated properly on my lot to hang wires even if I did have room.
Fortunately I did have space for a 50-foot tower and HF beam, which provide good signals on 30 through 6 meters. But to operate on 40 meters and below, I was forced to squeeze a vertical antenna and a few short radials in the other corner of my lot. Even in the cramped quarters, the vertical has performed well. I have worked around 120 countries on 40 meters with my QRP signal, but on 80 and 160 meters it's another story. On 80 I had squeezed out only two QSOs across the pond to Europe and a few 160-meter QSOs with the northern Caribbean.
My Compromise Solution
 Alpha Delta's DX-A 160-80-40 meter quarter-wave twin sloper installs like an inverted V with ground return accomplished through your tower or downlead. |
I picked up a commercially built wire sloper antenna on a whim during the summer hamfest season--an Alpha Delta Model DX-A, a 160-80-40 meter quarter-wave twin sloper. Reading the instruction manual of the sloper, however, things still seemed grim. First, there was the paragraph emphasizing the importance of the return ground path through the tower. My tower has a Glen Martin Engineering HazerTM unit, so there is no good ground return (even so, the HazerTM unit has been a great way to install and service my rotor and beam). The second problem was my two trees, which were now blocking the only two good routes to mount the other end of the antenna wires (without using my neighbor's property or landing in the middle of my deck).
Well the weather was turning cold, and time was running out, so I thought, "What the heck, I'll try it anyway." I drilled one small hole and used an already existing hole on the bottom edge of the Hazer to mount the sloper's feed-point bracket. I attached the coax, weatherproofed the connection with a little Coax SealTM and cranked the Hazer back to the top of the tower. I then proceeded to work the ends of the sloper wire through the trees as best as possible. I used nylon wire ties to attach 10-foot wooden poles (with an eyelet to pass supporting rope) to my chain-link fence at both ends of the sloper. I tied off the ropes, muttered a little prayer to the antenna gods and got back into the house just as I lost the last bit of the evening's light.
I couldn't check the antenna that night because I still needed to attach a coax connector at the shack end, and I couldn't find a PL-259. The next morning the weather had turned cold and there was snow on the ground, so I had just beaten the weather; now I just had to hope that it would work.
The Results
By the weekend, I had located a PL-259, but the test would have to wait until after Thanksgiving, as I had family commitments. So the day the CQ WW CW contest started, everything was ready to go. The first success: The antenna tuner in my K2 easily tuned the antenna on 160, 80 and 40 meters. Now I did a little A/B testing--switching between my vertical and the new sloper. The news on receive was good, with the sloper at least 2 S units better than the vertical on 160 and 80 meters. Forty meters was about the same, but that was not a problem as my vertical already was doing a good job for me on that band. With no time left to test before the contest erupted, I left for a quick dinner out with my wife, Linda.
The real good news did not show up until I tried 80 meters later that night, and my QRP signal actually began to log a few Europeans. Later that night, I was able to work some DX on 160. Unfortunately there was no miracle event. Although I did get a DL to hear me, we were unable to complete the QSO, despite his patience and many retries.
But all in all, it was a big improvement! I worked four times as many countries on 80 meters than the previous year. I guess the old adage is right that any antenna is better than no antenna---and two antennas are better than one!
A few weeks later I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to make contacts over the entire Eastern US during a few hours operating in the ARRL 160-Meter Contest, a CW-only event. I almost forgot it was 160, since I was easily working almost every station I heard with my 4 W. I'm looking forward to a productive QRP winter on the lower bands and hopefully will finish my 80-meter QRP WAS and jump across the pond on 160.
For more information about operating QRP on the low bands, you may want to read two of my earlier ARRL Web columns-- Low Power Meets the Low Bands Part 1 and Part 2.
Reader Feedback and Author's Comments
My columns on QRP utilizing digital modes attracted a lot of e-mail. Steve, W3HF, mentioned the great success he's had operating PSK31 on 20 meters with a compromise antenna. He wanted me to remind QRPers what a great mode PSK31can be for QRP contesting.
Fred Wagner, KQ6Q, wanted me to urge other QRPers to talk
up PSK31 at their local radio clubs. He found that he was able to do a very
effective demo--even without good antennas--by having two QRP PSK31stations at
the meeting so members could see both ends of the process. (For an even simpler
demo, record some PSK31 signals, then play them back into your sound card while
running your PSK31 software--Ed.)
 Keep warm this winter, and please listen for me on the low bands! |
Kurt Milton, WB8YYY, asked me to point out a simple and effective interface that he uses with his K2 and to remind readers they don't need to be fast typists to participate in the PSK31 fun, since most software offers a "type-ahead buffer." He says his most memorable PSK31 QSO was working a Russian station on 80 meters with a low dipole.
Many others wrote saying how much they enjoy digital QRP and urged other to give it a try.
On another subject, Jude Miller, KB5FSG, in New Orleans says Gulf Coast QRP Society members used their QRP skills during this fall's hurricanes and found that they came in pretty handy. "We received a fine thank-you letter from the Federal Reserve System for our work during the storm," he said.
Thanks, Jude, and all other hams--QRP and QRO, HF and VHF, phone, CW and digital--for the fine job you did during this year's hurricane season. Your work again pointed out the value of Amateur Radio to the public.
I wish you all a joyous holiday season and a happy new year! For some last-minute QRP-related gift items, you might want to revisit my previous columns--2002 and 2003 Holiday Gifts.
Editor's
note:
Anthony Luscre, K8ZT, an ARRL Life Member, lives in Stow, Ohio. He has worked
in the field of medical microbiology for 18 years and is now a Technology and
Computer Coordinator for a local school district. Luscre is an avid QRP
operator having earned DXCC, WAS and WAC using no more that 5 W output. Readers
are invited to contact the author via e-mail
or visit his Web site.
| Previous: New England, Canadian Youngsters Log Successful Space Contacts | Next: The K7RA Solar Update |
