Another interesting and enjoyable park activation, Michael! Thanks for bringing us along. I am always interested to see what you and the boss cook up for dinner. I know it will rarely be something as plain-Jane as burgers or dogs! 73, KO4AZY
I have the Wolf River Coil and the Packtenna 9:1 and they do well. I need to get the EFHW added to my kit. Great video as always "see you on the radio" 73 from K7OMD
Thanks for another wonderful video, Michael. I was wondering if you can explain your setup for the EFHW. How high was the feed point? Did you run it horizontal, vertical, sloper, inverted V? Thanks and 73, N3ZPC
Hey Michael what a wonderful video in the park was absolutely beautiful with the fall colors. Sound like you had a great time on the activation. I saw you come up on the Pota Spot when you was on 20 meter and I really listen for you I think I heard you but you were so far into my noise level. So maybe next time again thanks for sharing your video take care and stay safe. WD5ENH Steve
RX signals sound more solid on the EFHW v/s the Wolf River Coil. On short-haul or domestic contacts, I expect that to be the case. Many thanks for the comparison.
Great video as always. Keep using that EFHW! Would love to get you in the log. I heard you faintly on 10/09/2021 when I was activating Copper Falls State Park K-1446, but didn't dare try a P2P. Probably should have anyway...
October 9th I was at the Black Lake campground in the national forest. We would have been not very far from each other, maybe 20-30 miles as the crow flies. That video is coming out in a couple weeks.
Our 2024 Wisconsin POTA campout will be at Brunet Island State Park, that's the park featured in this video. So you'll see more content from this park later this fall.
I'm using the 17 foot Chameleon whip in that video. I usually post a gear list for the activation in the video description and that's the whip that I had listed.
Good question. I've gotten pretty skilled with the throw bag and can get the line up in 1 or 2 throws, so the EFHW may be faster. It always takes a little bit of time to spread out the radials and tune the WRC, so I would say that the EFHW may be a marginally easier antenna to deploy.
An excellent question and something we overlook. Parks on the Air is a program that started in the US and Canada, but has spread internationally that encourages portable operations in Federal, State, and Provincial parks, forests, and wildlife areas. Activators set up in a park to make contacts with hunters and other activators and the results are logged on the Parks on the Air website. It is a fun activity that encourages getting outside and working portable amateur radio. Details can be found on www.parksontheair.com
It's also a good way to keep the bands active all year round, cause you don't have to wait for contest or be stuck on a Net for an hour. It's also a good way for.me to check propogation to different areas and to check my various radios and antenna systems out. It's a good deal for me.
Nice video, I worked the Illinois QSO party last Sunday with my WRC and Ft891. I was a CW station and made contacts coast to coast along with Germany and PR. Sounds like you had better luck on that day with the wire. My contacts were all on 20 73 WA9SWW . .
I have a wolf river coil and a surplus 9ft vertical and the performance is lack luster, My EFHW performs much better. I have heard alot of bs about how efhw antennas are deaf and I'm here to tell they don't know jack mine is the best portable antenna ever. You can catch me on the bands qrp and from Chave worked the orient , Africa, South America. Liked your video keep em comin.73 ki0ad/Jim
Thanks for the video - very helpful. I am sitting here trying to decide whether to spend $$$ on the WRC SB Platinum 1000 + whip + radials + some tripod which comes in close to $300, or to use a home-made end-fed which with 65' of wire and a 49:1 transformer which costs less than $70. Both support multiple bands and up to 100 watts digital. The end-fed requires a tree, whereas the WRC + whip + tripod is self-supporting. I have heard that not all park rangers are happy with antenna-tree interactions. On the other hand, the end-fed requires no adjustments to move between bands. Love that park!
The rules concerning hanging wires in trees vary from state to state. In Wisconsin they don't seem to mind when I set up in the camping area. Minnesota and Michigan state parks don't allow it. So it is good to have a choice if you can swing it. One possibility is to use a push up mast that you can hang off the back of your vehicle as an antenna support.
Loved the time lapse sky scene, but you really need to stop promoting my favorite park. We need to keep a few of these local jewels secret. 🤫 Those EFHW and Dipole wire antennas are tops in my book. Show me a tree and I'll show you a great wire antenna location. 😀 KZ9V
Good video Michael. I love both type antennas. I tend to use the EFHW more on 40 meters just because I can't do a full quarter wave antenna as a vertical with the Buddistick and a 17' whip. On 20 meters, I tend to go with the vertical. I do miss out on some of the closer in contacts with the vertical. I have not done a A-B comparison between the two, but will in the future. Both types of antennas work excellent. The low cost of buying or building a HWEF makes them the choice for those on a budget. I like the way you run the contacts. Very friendly, yet fast. Great combination. Thanks for what you do Michael.
I just used both for the first time over the last week. The WRC seemed to work better and was easier. I'll try them both in different locations. Thanks Michael. You're a rising star! 73 W8XDX Toledo Ohio.
I really think it was more of a tossup between the two antennas. Part of the skill of selecting an antenna is knowing which will work best for a particular situation. That's why I don't stick to any one type for my portable work.
The antenna he uses later in the day works better on 40 Mtrs. Imagine that? I will bet the one he uses on 20 meters earlier in the day would work better. Tom W4DAX
Just for clarification, as video tends to compress the timeline; the two 40m contacts that I used as an A/B comparison where made 45 minutes apart at 16:43 and 17:31 UTC. Later in the day when I continued to work the park, I stuck with the EFHW as it was more tolerant to the static crashes I was receiving due to nearby weather activity.
I've been pretty happy with my WRC. I use is much more than my MFJ EFHW, but only because I've only used the EFHV a couple times and I didn't get fantastic results. I also don't like deploying up into trees, but that's just me. I'd like to see how you carry your WRC, the problem for me is the long whip doesn't fit in most of my bags. If you already have a video of it, please point me that way
I'm using a tripod/light stand carrying case to hold my whips and other things that don't fit into the storage bin. Here's one such model: amzn.to/2ZGUT0r
Here it is: Roasted Stuffed Squash Thanksgiving Bowl 1 acorn squash 1 medium onion 2 celery stalks 12 oz turkey (Oscaer Mayer carving board cuts work great) 1 package Stove Top stuffing mix 1 1/2 cup water 4 tbsp butter 1/4 cup pecans 1/4 cup dried cranberries 1. Slice squash in half end to end. Scoop out inside and coat with olive oil and salt. Roast in a medium heat dutch oven for about an hour or until tender. 2. Saute onion and celery until translucent. Slice turkey into small pieces and cook until warmed through. 3. Add stuffing, water (or broth), and butter. Stir until stuff has absorbed liquid. 4. Stir in pecans and cranberries. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve stuffing mix in the squash bowls.
I like the extras of the camping experience you added in. It shows how ham radio can be combined into a peaceful time camping. I’m making a laptop purchase this week. For shack and POTA. What screen size is yours? RAM? Working good for you?
The laptop is a Lenovo I purchased little over two years ago. It has an 11.5 inch screen, Celeron processor, 4 gig of RAM, and a 64 gig SSD. At the time it was the cheapest notebook I could find on Amazon with an SSD and Windows 10. I think I paid about $160. It works well for logging as the battery lasts all day, but it does lag a bit on the digital modes. I like the smallish size and it was cheap enough that I don't fear taking it out into the field. I'll probably replace it when the computer market flattens out in about a year or so.
Hi...Michael. My name es Walter, LU8ESQ......Which antenna is the most suitable to use with a yaesu FT-818 and that is portable. The idea is to do SOTA with friends. Thank you
From a pure weight standpoint, I'd go with a lightweight wire end-fed half wave and a carbon fiber mast to support it if trees aren't available on the SOTA peak.
Despite what any reviewer is going to say, end fed half wave antennas are all going to perform on the air the same. The only difference is their construction and physical appearance. There are a lot of boutique manufacturers of EFHW antennas, so pick one that fits your operating style.
Seems like most of those contacts were within NVIS range, so of course any horizontal antenna < 1/4w above ground would prevail. Vertical not so good, but could have proven better for longer distance contacts at different times.
I love seeing antenna comparisons; thank you, Michael. The bulk of your 40m contacts were east, southeast, and south of your location; very little to the west. Can you comment, please, about directionality of the vertical and EFHW antennas, especially considering the direction of radial distribution for the vertical and the direction pointing for the EF antenna (I assume a sloper config)? I guess that I am asking whether the antennas are "steerable" in contact direction? Thank you, Michael.
From here in Wisconsin, that "east - southeast - south" pattern is very typical for 40 meters regardless of antenna choice. I think it's a result of the density of the POTA hunter population in that part of the country. KZ9V
I'm gonna have to agree with Dave, that tends to be the pattern, especially on 40 meters. If you go back and look at my other POTA videos (I always put a map of contacts at the end), the bulk of contacts will be east, south, and southeast. I think it has mostly to do with the lack of hams west and north of us. Not many people live in the Dakotas, etc. But as for the antenna, if I recall, it was oriented North-South with the transformer high on the north end and the wire trailing south. The WRC has it's three radials spread in a pretty even fashion.
Michael very nice video some great scenery and a great comparision between the vertical antenna and the end fed antenna, thank you for sharing, and keep'em coming!
What a great video..I was interested in the gear comparison, but was pleased to see you take the time to showcase the other parts of the experience. The food, scenery and other aspects were a great bonus.
What a beautiful place to go do some POTA. I can see why you enjoy going there so often. Great looking dinner happening there too! Keep the videos coming. 73!
Another great video. Have you ever tried a manual screwdriver antenna? I am wondering how they compare to the WRC. I agree with other commenters that the dipole in a tree has less problems with noise. (Speaking of vertical vs horizontal)
Great video. Liked the 2 antenna comp, liked the radio contacts, liked the walk, and really liked the cooking and final scene relaxing! Enjoy Fall while its here! 73 W3RRM
Good deal, you'll enjoy it. Don't forget to take a ferry ride to the island. You don't need to take your car, most of the amenities, with exception of the state park, are within walking distance of the ferry landing.
Michael, I always enjoy your vids. Question, what's that PERFECT sized little folding table you're using in this vid?? Amazon link, please. :-) 73 from Chicagoland.
I'm using the GCI Outdoor Camp Table 20. It's pretty durable, I have two of them and we've used them for two seasons without issue. I bought mine on Amazon, but it appears to be out of stock, but Dick's Sporting Goods carrys them: www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/gci-outdoor-compact-camp-table-20-16gciu1pcfldngtblodr/16gciu1pcfldngtblodr
I've noticed that I hear more stations east of the Mississippi on 40 meters in the evening hours when I use WSPR than west. My results are similar to yours except for my QTY being in SE Texas. For testing purposes I've been using a MFJ 40 meter ham stick with one counterpoise wire running south from the antenna on the second floor of the house... receive only though because I don't want to TX inside the house so close to my IC-7000. 73 KD5YOU
I agree. I think a lot of it has to do with population density and how the signal lands. With the exception of the west coast, there are more people east of me than west.
Were you using an antenna tuner with those two antennas? Also, didn't see the recipe for what you cooked up with the acorn squash. Nice Vide, as always.
I didn't use a tuner in these tests. I never use the tuner with the Wolf River Coil and this particular deployment of the end fed half wave didn't require a tuner (depending on location and environmental conditions I will use a tuner with the EFHW). The recipe for the squash bowls was in the description, but here it is again: www.freshoffthegrid.com/roasted-stuffed-squash/
Have you ever had a problem with regular people contacting your antennas? I had a friend try to remove a dead bug from his quarter wave mobile antenna while I was sitting in his car transmitting. Perfect blisters on his thumb and forefinger and a “THAT WAS STUPID” or words to that effect. That was funny at 25 watts; wouldn’t want to see it at 100. Thanks and keep up the great videos.
I haven't had problems with people touching my antennas. Everyone in the campsite is pretty aware of it and know not to touch it. I set up wire antennas so they are out of reach of people and try to place the vertical out of way of traffic. The biggest challenge, though, is keeping them from tripping over the ground radials.
I have the Wolf River coil ( I love it) and a packtena EFHW (also love it). I like the wolf river coil because it is so easy to switch bands and if I mount it on my car, super fast setup. They are both good. My question is your logging program. It looks like HAMRS. I was trying it out and I like the easy format for POTA, except I cannot comment on it when re-spotting people. My local POTA checker told me one of my activations was not showing all the contacts and lost some data. I tried to correct it and could not and switched back to Hamlog. The POTA. checker told me that He was having issues come through with HAMRS and recommended I not use it til they improved their stability. Have you had any problems with HAMRS?
Yes, it is Hamrs. I am aware that some people are having issues with is loosing contacts, I haven't had that problem yet. I always quit the program before I turn off or put the computer to sleep. I also check my logs with ADIFmaster before I send them off for uploading to make sure there aren't any errors or missing fields and cells in the log. I often find little issues that can hang up an upload, like missing mode, band, or frequency. Spending 5 minutes with ADIFmaster makes sure the log is clean and error free.
17:43 gonna guess borax or one of the premade packets you throw in. Good comparison. I use EFHW at home and mobile. Thought about a vertical but not sold.
I will tend to agree with you. The best experience I ever had with the Wolf River Coil was deploying it on the beach up on Lake Superior. That video is in my playlist from about two weeks ago.
Maybe that is why on the beach they work for me, but when camping in the woods, they don't. Also, if they have a low takeoff, they may be getting blocked by the mountains in the area for me.
What are you running g for radials on the WRC? I found six 24 foot radials are the ticket. The three 33 footers did not get it out. Also set the antenna on a picnic table, 2-3 feet higher helps also.
@@KB9VBRAntennas My first 20 meter contact was the southern tip of South America. So they do work well. But nearby lighting 25 miles or closer makes them horribly noisy and pretty useless. Try more radials and raising it higher. I think you will find a large improvement.
@@KB9VBRAntennas I use three radials (plan on going to 9) but I mark them according to the bands I'm using and unroll them accordingly and that seems to work quite well for me. Using that set-up, I made contact with a station in Alaska from my QTH in Georgia, with my ICOM 705, and my WRC and that was this Spring(before the conditions improved)
Great video! This is a great video because it gets everyone thinking about different antenna designs and their individual pros/cons. Something to consider about this comparison is that the WRC is a very compromised antenna on 40M given its height. Because it has a good SWR, that doesn't mean it is a great antenna on 40m. I recently did my own comparison....and my signal was proportional to the amount of copper I had in the air, regardless of antenna type (efhw with 49:1 vs random wire with 9:1). I suspect that a full size vertical would work well for dx compared to an efhw, but not when the efhw is full size and the vertical is half the size of what it should be. Thanks again for the video! 73 Dave N2MXX
When I run 40 meters with the coil, I try to extend the whip the full 17 feet so I use less of the coil. I've found on the lower bands that whip length does make a difference. I agree that the more wire you can get in the air, the better signal. On a side note, I really like your comments, even the critical ones, because they make me think too.
@@KB9VBRAntennas Thank you, Michael. One of your videos a while ago initially inspired me to become involved in radio direction finding. Your videos are about much more than an amateur radio technical discussion....your videos convey the actual experience and the outdoors; truly inspirational. I can be critical when it comes to technical inaccuracies, because these untruths become the underpinnings of amateur radio when they are repeated enough over time. If I could create an amateur radio youtube super-channel...I would combine your talent with Dave Cassler KE0OG- I think the two of you together in the same video would be an awesome combination! Maybe a collaboration could be in the future?? Just an idea! 73
A collab with Dave Casler would be awesome. I try to target the lifestyle aspect of amateur radio; doing fun things with radio while weaving in technical details. I'm not an engineer, I have a Bachelor of Arts degree, but I do know how to research and distill information, and of course lean on other experts in the field. Thanks again.
