The TSA-friendly 3.5 inch Baby FSL antenna was designed to provide air
travelers with some serious inductive coupling gain during vacations, ocean
cruises, business trips or other travel. Designed to provide gain roughly
comparable to that of a 4 foot (1.3m) air core box loop, its design,
construction and performance is fully described in the 22-page full
construction article posted at
http://www.mediafire.com/file/pnfm8909c77zjoy/3.5inch-FF-FSL.doc/file
Recently I had the pleasure of welcoming "Frequent Flyer" Craig Barnes
(veteran of multiple Hawaii DXing trips with his 5" Bar FSL) to the notoriously
wild Rockwork cliff on the Oregon coast-- home of enhanced DU-DX, enhanced
weather and (recently) an enhanced squatter population. Craig's original plan
was to use his 5" Bar FSL to track down the DU's at the "Kiwi Cliff," where he
and I would dodge the squatters to set up multiple FSL antennas each morning.
Unfortunately, Craig's 5" Bar FSL had accumulated a little too many air
miles during the trips to Hawaii, and was in need of some general maintenance
(which could only be done back home in Puyallup). Fortunately I had brought
along the very first of a new type of 3.5" Baby FSL, having an internal "rubber
locking collar" to securely lock all the ferrite rods in place, even when the
antenna is subjected to rough treatment and/ or vertical positioning during
travel. Craig eagerly jumped at the chance to be the first to test out this
reworked design, which was immediately put to the test in all out DU-DXing with
his modified Tecsun PL-380 portable at the Rockwork cliff.
The Baby FSL proved to be a real thriller when operated by a quick learner
like Craig. Within a couple of days he was fully independent in tracking down
the DU's, often finding Kiwi and Australian DX that I had missed. The Baby FSL
generally tracked down all the same DU-DX as the 15" and 17" FSL models,
although not quite at the same signal levels. As with any antenna, the attitude
of the DXer was the most important-- and in this aspect Craig really shined. If
a DXer really believes that he has a decent chance and goes after any type of
rare DX regardless of the odds, then he is going to come away with some
astonishing results. With his tiny antenna (small enough to easily fit within
hand carry luggage) Craig tracked down 531-More FM, 558-Fiji, 936-Chinese Voice
and 1017-Tonga, besides multiple Kiwi and Australian DX. For a DXer from an
inland state like Colorado, Craig certainly ended up with results approaching
those of a west coast veteran!
Here are some of Craig's Rockwork Cliff DU-DX recordings, all using his
modified PL-380 and 3.5" Baby FSL:
558 Radio Fiji One Suva, Fiji, 10 kW Island choral music at fair level at
1252 on 8-6 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/3u4csqfcg07kcghx0hzzwqe79u3oh0fp
567 RNZ National Wellington, New Zealand, 50 kW News and music at 1256 on
8-6, with ID at 7 seconds
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/983zbl3cosoo9nhcf397tvkdv24ucnof
603 Radio Waatea Auckland, New Zealand, 5 kW Beautiful Maori island music
at good level at 1258 on 8-6
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/4tgbod0pyxn7emmi8gu7hgb3ofa604d0
657 Star Wellington/ Tauranga, New Zealand, 50 kW/ 10 kW Christian music
at very good level at 1237 on 8-6
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/iz73c742lc7rwr50m6rgzayjhi5nd3v7
738 2NR Grafton, Australia, 50 kW ABC network conversation at very good
level at 1312 on 8-6
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/85zgrh2dwg71xev2tjr1fclvp6y93o6rits
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/85zgrh2dwg71xev2tjr1fclvp6y93o6r
792 Radio Sport Hamilton, New Zealand, 5 kW Relay of Fox Sports Network
(American accented) at very good level at 1315 on 8-6
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/2c3uv943u3373kg42vhop526au0kzcx9
1017 A3Z Nuku'alofa, Tonga, 10 kW Island choral music at good level at
1222 on 8-5 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/968jmqot7q6cadywcfdqktrlutoz8bp7
Craig Barnes and his 3.5" Baby FSL on a 4' PVC base at the Rockwork 6 ocean
cliff turnoff on 8-2-18
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/xigucktp07306guw0fh3e4ep49f4qepb
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