Sunday 23 January 2011

W3EDP Antenna

Next weekend is Winter Field Day and the group which is taking part from the Frontenac Radio Group decided today which antennas we will be using.  So, the choices are: a 80m OCF Dipole, a 20m Delta Loop, a W3EDP, and a 20m Buddipole Vertical.

(See updated article HERE)

(See another W3EDP article HERE)

We had everything but the W3EDP...but that got built tonight.  Many thanks to Bob, VA3QV, for his comments and thoughts on this antenna............and I'm sure you'll agree that it's also nice to have somebody else to blame if it doesn't work :-)

Everyone I have spoken to who has used this antenna speaks highly of it.  We'll give it a try and see how it works out.

We are already planning several Lighhouse activations next summer and this type of antenna will be very useful on those trips....when it's -30C it's always nice to dream of next summer's fun when it will be +30C !!

For all of you going out next weekend to take part in the Winter Field Day, be careful, dress warm, stay safe, and please remember that it takes four times as long to do tasks in the cold as it does in the warm weather, so take your time.

5 comments:

  1. I wonder if you could use 300 ohm Radio Shack twinlead in place of the ladder line? Nice portable antenna and have heard nothing but good reports about this type of antenna.

    Bob VE3MPG

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  2. WHAT??? Take the blame???? Hopefully it will be to share the glory...

    At home I use a W3EDP as an inverted L with the first 25 feet (17 and about 10) going up to a tree branch then over the branch, over my roof and to a tree in the front yard. Using a 4:1 commercal balun and my LDG 100w auto tuner I can load up on 10-160.

    I keep another one in my kit with the FT817 and normally use it as an end fed NVIS antenna ( too old to throw the line high over the tree) and it gets the same good results.

    Will (should) be using one with VE3RAM on the SPAR Event ... Perhaps we will be able to make a contact...

    73bob

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  3. I have made two different antennas using 300 ohm twin lead and it worked great...

    73bob

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  4. Where is the SPAR Event taking place? I am new to the area, but would like to come out to watch and take a few pics.

    paul@ve3zt.ca

    Regards, Paul.
    ve3zt

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  5. The one I used at Chili-con this year was also made from twinlead. I fed it directly with a Z-Match tuner (Emtech ZM-2) and it matched and worked great on all bands except for 40m ! On 40m I ended up feeding just the longer side against a 33 ft radial on the ground with the ZM-2 in unbalanced-mode and that worked fine for that band. This is a pretty versatile portable antenna with decent performance.

    ReplyDelete