Hi. I was trying to build a field portable quick to install antenna and I really liked what I read about an end fed halfwave having a very low angle of radiation and only
requiring a very short counterpoise however I remembered that the KXAT1 manual stated not to use lengths near a halfwave as they would be outside the matching range. So... I decided that I would cut an antenna to 33ft (20m halfwave), and then I would cut it back a foot at a time until the KXAT1 found a match. I started at 33.25ft vertical but I did leave a pair of 18.5ft counterpoise wires running at about 2 feet above the ground connected to the ground terminal. I tuned up and ... 1.2:1 match on 20m! I then proceeded to work KF6GC with 2W (almost 4000km) in the middle of a K Index = 8 solar storm! So I know the antenna worked well. I modelled it in EZNEC and the impedance at the base of that antenna should have been 970 + j 1700 ohms, so I am surprised that the KXAT1 was able to match it. Any comments? Was it because I left the counterpoises connected that it worked so well? If I remove the counterpoises in the NEC model the impedance increases and becomes inductive to 1456 - j 1819 ohms. Comments? PS. I am only learning in this stuff so forgive any overly simplistic analysis!! Thanks, Martin. VA3SIE. ___________________________________________________________ To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com