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WB8ZTP

Joined: Sat, Apr 4th 1998, 00:00 Roles: N/A Moderates: N/A

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Longwire Antenna Aug 7th 2011, 20:06 36 58,932 on 21/6/21

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Topic Author Posted On
Longwire Antenna WB8ZTP on 21/6/21
The Long Wire / Random Wire antenna comes through again on our 2021 summer vacation to the Outer Banks. It’s great practice getting ready for an unknown / emergency situation by having a length of wire, (My preference is 43’ of #12 Solid Insulated Copper), a length of copper wire for a Counterpoise with a couple of large spike nails at the end, a 100’ length of of RG-58u Flexible Coax, with some alligator clips on the end, an LDG 4:1 UNUN, (Mine is is RU-4-1) and some Nylon Twine. Oh and of course my radio a Yaesu FT-897D with a LDG AT-897 Plus Tuner attached. I use the alligator clips on the antenna hookup end of the coax in case I need to build a dipole. Flexibility is the name of the game, be prepared for any situation.

This years house wasn’t the idea situation. I had to slope the 43’ antenna from the 3rd floor porch to a fence post between two big houses instead of getting it out past the houses toward the ocean. But the good news, it still worked. I didn’t have a lot of on the air time due to all the other activities but I made a great contact with a Parks on the Air on 40 m one afternoon, so it was a success. No DX this trip, that would have required more late night stay ups which I didn’t do this year. In the past I’ve had multiple DX contacts with this same setup to Russia, Ukraine, Denmark, Italy, Bulgaria and so on.
73, Mark WB8ZTP
Longwire Antenna WB8ZTP on 23/6/20
An update on my Longwire / Random wire antennas. My 40-6m Vertical home antenna after 10 years gave out so I stripped all the stubs off of it and used it as the feed point to a used End Fed wire antenna, model EFHW-8010 from a company that specializes in wire antennas. I'm good on QRZ if you are curious of the name of the company but I figured I couldn't list it in the post. I could only get it up about 20’ at it’s lowest sag point to a tree in the back woods. I wanted to get the far end in a higher tree but maybe next fall once the leaves disappear. It works great but I do have to use a tuner to bring it in just a bit better on some bands. Multiple countries contacted and all the local nets that I like to visit. Our annual vacation to the OBX was cancelled this year so my 84' temporary wire at the beach was not used.
73,
Mark Pogany – WB8ZTP
Weather Station Equipment KQ4JT on 23/6/20
Walter, our Davis Vantage Pro 2 (wireless) is still doing wonderfully after 8 years in service. The folks at Davis, especially John, their tech is so helpful in any issue you may have. I had an update issue with my laptop and John took care of it in just a few minutes.

The links below are for my station on Davis and Weather Underground. Give a shout out anytime, I’m good on QRZ.com.

https://www.weatherlink.com/bulletin/df624794-e408-462b-adec-728d8461abbb

https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KOHGRANV5

73,
Mark Pogany WB8ZTP
Longwire Antenna WB8ZTP on 23/1/17
Latest news on my Long / Random Wire Antenna projects. My favorite evening net changed to 80 meters for the Winter months so I threw up a 84’ Long / Random Wire antenna and a ground wire the other day while it was warm in Central Ohio so I could get on the net. It’s hooked to my LDG RU 4:1 Unun, the LDG AT-897 and my Yaesu FT-897 rig. It worked great checking in on the net, I’m sold! Keep this topic alive with your comments and questions. 73, Mark – WB8ZTP
Getting Started KD2JRI on 30/4/16
KD2JRI - I forgot to mention I just bought a Celestron 9.25". I would love to pick your mind on that subject. Go to my QRZ.com page to get my email address. 73, Mark WB8ZTP

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