SOTA Expedition to Blue Mountain W4G/NG-010 with the NY4G EFHW antenna

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W4KWM and I decided on a couple of last-minute, New Year’s Eve SOTA activations. The first activation was Tray Mountain, which is a few miles North of Helen, Georgia. Helen is the little town where it’s like Christmas all year long. The second activation was Blue Mountain. This video focuses on the Blue Mountain activation.
This was the maiden activation with the NY4G EFHW antenna, that we affectionately call “Ariel’s Aerial.” The antenna is phenomenal. The basic model works 6-10-15-20-30-40 meters without the need for a tuner and without having to clip or unclip anything, except for 30 meters. There are expansion kits to allow the antenna to operate on 17, 60, and 80 meters, again with no tuner required.
We were racing against darkness and rain, but we managed a number of contacts on 60 meters and 20 meters. 40 meters was too crowded. 20 meters wasn’t much better but I found 14.155 open and made a few contacts there. I made contact with chasers in California, Arizona, and Oregon with 45W from the Yaesu FT-891.
If you want a great antenna that deploys quickly and allows multi-band operation, mostly without needing to reconfigure the antenna as you change bands, I encourage you to contact Ariel Jacala, NY4G, and ask about Ariel’s Aerial. Ariel is now making his portable EFHW antenna (Ariel’s Aerial”) available to everyone. You can order yours at: www.ny4gefhw.com/
I hope you enjoy the video. If you find my channel informative and entertaining, I hope you will consider joining my support group by clicking on: www.patreon.com/N4HNH There are 3 levels of support, including exclusive content.
Another great way to help my channel is to click subscribe.
73, de N4HNH

Опубликовано:

17 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 17

@arayboomer 3 года назад

Sorry I missed ya Doug. I only saw your spots for 2 and 20m. I heard your pileup on 20.

@n4hnhradio 3 года назад

40m was too crowded. 20 was crowded too, especially in the General portion of the band, so Wayne let me operate in the Extra Class portion of the band. I was using his 891 and Ariel’s Aerial. Sorry I missed you. Did you chase Wayne on 60m? BTW, I was honored to be Mark’s contact to make him a triple Sloth. 73, Doug

@arayboomer 3 года назад

@@n4hnhradio I tried him on 60, but I had nothing but noise.

@cullinhall5481 3 года назад

Thanks for sharing your hike and setup. I have the yaesu 857 and am looking to get setup for using it on hikes with the scout troop.

@n4hnhradio 3 года назад

W4KWM, whom you see in the video, runs the FT-857D in the truck. We call the truck “Rusty the Trusty SOTA-mobile”. The 857 is a great all-in-one radio. Like the FT-891 there is no internal tuner, so the NY4G EFHW antenna is a big help, since it can operate 6-10-15-20-40 without a tuner. You can buy the 17, 30, 60, and 80m options as well for tuner required on those bands. The 80m is optimized for the CW portion of the band but Ariel might customize one if you prefer the SSB portion. 73, N4HNH

@CaptainRadioAdventures 3 года назад

Thanks for the glowing review. I was listening to you on both 60 and 20m. You had quite a footprint on both bands and plenty of contacts in the short time you had

@n4hnhradio 3 года назад

Thanks for a great antenna, Ariel! It is easy to deploy and performs above and beyond. The receive noise floor was almost nonexistent. But the stations from Oregon and California sounded like locals. It’s nice to see the S-meter jump from zero to S9 when someone speaks. The RX is just as important as the TX, and your EFHW delivers on both accounts. 73, Doug

@kw4jm699 3 года назад

I enjoyed that. Thanks Doug and Wayne. Scott Kw4jm

@n4hnhradio 3 года назад

I’m glad you liked it, Scott. 73, N4HNH

@KI4ASK 3 года назад

Thanks for sharing. I’m heading up there tomorrow to activate 9/28 at 1400 UTC. 73

@n4hnhradio 3 года назад

It’s a good one. Be careful not to slip on the rocks during the hike, especially when descending. 73, De N4HNH

@n4hnhradio 3 года назад

Have you made it to the summit? I have been watching for your spot on SOTAWATCH. 73, de N4HNH

@n4hnhradio 3 года назад

I’m glad I was able to chase you Joe. The 10W from your IC-705 served you well. Thank you for helping me add 10 more points to my chase log! 73, de N4HNH

@KI4ASK 3 года назад

@@n4hnhradio thanks - it was great to work you and thanks also for helping point out the S2S who was trying to work me from VA. We'll be on Tray Mountain Saturday for AT on the Air. Are y'all going to activate too?

@n4hnhradio 3 года назад

I’m glad to help out Joe. Tray Mountain is a great summit. I won’t be able to activate this Saturday. I am attending a surprise birthday party. 73, de N4HNH

@djsomers100 3 года назад

What do you recommend in the way of counterpoise lengths?

@n4hnhradio 3 года назад

The EFHW uses the shield of the feedline (coax) as a counterpoise. Use a minimum of 10 feet of coax. I use RG-316, but RG-174 is also good. You won’t need a counterpoise with the NY4G EFHW antenna unless you plan to run more than 15 Watts into the antenna. The maximum power handling rating for the NY4G EFHW antenna is as follows: SSB=60W PEP CW=40W PEP DATA=20W If you plan to run more than 15 Watts, the NY4G EFHW antenna winder/UnUn includes a bolt for you to connect a counterpoise wire to. This is the official recommendation from NY4G concerning the use of an additional counterpoise with his antenna: The counterpoise wire length is measured by the formula, lowest frequency wavelength / 20. Therefore, approximately two meters of wire (7 feet) is good for 7 MHz and higher. Use 3 meters (10 feet) of counterpoise wire if you will use the optional 60-meter (5 MHz) extension. Use 4.3 meters (14 feet) of counterpoise wire if you will use the optional 80-meter extension. 73, de N4HNH