What antenna to bring with me on vacation? I have 3 choices. But as always everything has pros and cons. The same counts for antennas.
Choice 1: 3 Band endfed made by PE1BVQ (SK). Advantage: reliable, has proven itself, light, broadband, small to carry. Disadvantage: Pre-tuned, large (you cannot hang it everywhere), only 3 bands. Using the (tr)uSDX it means I can only use 40m and 20m.
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| Endfed attached to a gutter |
Choice 2: Magnetic loop. Advantage: reliable, small footprint, can be use inside a house or shed, all bands 80-70cm, fast setup, directivity. Disadvantage: Tuning box is relatively heavy and big, difficult to tune, very small bandwidth (retune every new frequency).
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| The MLA package |
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| MLA deployed |
Choice 3: Superantenna MP-1 Advantage: Broadbanded, DX antenna (proven), light, small to carry, has larger bandwidth as MLA, easy setup. Disadvantage: It is relatively large (long radials) when deployed, it doesn't always tune well, very sensitive to surrounding.
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| MP-1 Package |
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| MP-1 package |
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| MP-1 deployed |
It's a hard choice. I had good results with the MLA from Germany were I had not much space for an antenna. But the MLA on a tripod fitted in and did well. The MP-1 has been my antenna a few times when active from Denmark with good results. I never brought the endfed with me on vacation, the endfed does well on my 12m glassfiber mast. However there is no room in the car for the mast. Overall there will be limited room in the car. So I can't have it all. I have no idea if I have room for an antenna at our destination but so far I can see that there is a small garden behind the summerhouse we rented. I don't want to give more details. But I can reveal that my prefix will be SM/,,,
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