antenna – WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio

Hanging Out on the Higher Bands

I have always spent a fair amount of my HF operating time on the 40M and 30M bands, with a little time on 20M. Lately, though, I’ve been making a point of spending more operating time on 20M through 15M (or at least as high as the rig I’m using will go). To that end, I had a little fun on 15M with my KH1 this morning.

I stopped by Norristown Farm State Park (US-4363, KFF-4363) this morning. I broke out my Elecraft KH1, which hadn’t seen much action over the past few weeks. We were under a wind advisory, so I operated from the truck and used my truck-mounted 12-foot loaded whip.

My Elecraft KH1 and Tumd stainless steel paddles in the cab of my truck

As I was setting up the KH1, I ran into an issue while removing the KH1 paddles from the radio. During an activation about a month ago, the spring between the paddles popped off. I found the spring and re-installed it when I got home. The paddles must have gotten damaged somehow, because the left paddle wasn’t moving as smoothly as it used to. Today, the spring came off the paddles again, but this time it was nowhere to be found. I wasn’t planning to use them today, anyway. For those times when I use the KH1 handheld, I have the N6ARA Tiny Paddles with a KH1 adapter. I also have a K6ARK Pressure Paddle kit on order. But I digress…

Anyway, I started on 40M, because here on the east coast it’s a quick way to make the first 10 contacts for the activation. That’s especially the case early in the morning. There was a lot of atmospheric noise on 40M this morning, but it didn’t take long to log 17 contacts. The 20M band was good for another nine contacts, and 17M produced three contacts.

Being inherently lazy, I left the loading coil tap set for 17M and tried to see if the KH1 would tune it up on 15M. The KH1 easily found a 1.2:1 match. That wasn’t surprising, since the 12 foot whip is only about 11 inches longer than a quarter-wave on 15M, and I only use one turn of the loading coil at the 17M setting.

After making a couple of 15M contacts with the antenna adjusted for 17M, I bypassed the coil completely. Again, the KH1 loaded it right up. I could have shortened the whip by 11 inches to make it a resonant quarter wave on 15M, but I didn’t have my antenna analyzer with me. Honestly, I don’t think it would have made a significant improvement in performance, anyway. Overall, I made 13 contacts on 15M, which included a handful of DX stations.

After 90 minutes on the air, I had made 42 contacts, including nine park-to-park contacts. The DX contacts today included:

20M: Dominican Republic
17M: Ukraine
15M: Czech Republic, Latvia, Spain, Italy (2), England

I was happy with how the 12-foot whip and KH1 performed on 15M. I’ll definitely be spending more time on 15M (and above) in the future.

I also have an idea for an antenna I might try to build. More on that later, if it works.

72, Craig WB3GCK

The KH1 Meets the 19-Foot Vertical

For several years my homebrew 19-foot vertical was my go-to portable antenna. Over the past two years, I’ve been using a variety of other antennas, relegating my trusty vertical to backup status under the backseat of my truck. I dusted it off recently to see how well the Elecraft KH1 would work with it.

I designed the antenna to be resonant on the 40 and 30 meter bands. On the 20M band and higher, it functions as a random wire, so a tuner is required. I was sure the KH1 would easily find a match on 40M and 30M, but I was curious to see how well it would fare on 20M through 15M.

The matching unit for my 19-foot vertical. There's a small, red jumper on the top that is used for band changes. — The matching unit for my 19-foot vertical. The red jumper is used for changing bands.

To test this out, I drove to Ridley Creek State Park (US-1414, KFF-1414). I had been to an ARES-RACES get-together that morning, so I swung into the park for a quick activation on my way home.

I set up at the edge of ‌a field away from other park visitors. Since it was a weekday, the park wasn’t very busy, anyway. I supported the antenna on a cheap telescopic pole using my homebrew ground mount and spread out four 12.5-foot radials. From there, I ran 20-feet of RG-213 over to my camping chair, where I used the KH1 on a Tufteln KH1 knee board.

KH1 and Ashi Paddle 45 on a Tufteln KH1 kneeboard

Before I got started, I tried the KH1’s internal tuner from 40M through 15M. It easily found a decent match on each of the five bands. The SWR on 15M was 2:1, which is certainly usable for the KH1.

The 19-foot vertical on a slightly-leaning pole

Despite some unsettled geomagnetic conditions, I made contacts on each band except 15M. (I didn’t hear any activity there this morning.) The antenna really worked well on 17M, where I had back-to-back contacts with F4ILH and F5MQU. Even with the geomagnetic wackiness afoot, I managed to log 16 QSOs. Five of those were park-to-park contacts.

It was good to get the old vertical out in the field again. I’ve been thinking about re-packaging it to reduce the size of the matching unit and eliminate the jumper used for band changes. That might be a good project for over the winter.

72, Craig WB3GCK

KH1 Picnic Table Ops

My (far) better half and I had plans to go watch our grandson’s soccer game yesterday, but I still squeezed in a short, early morning activation. I headed over to nearby Valley Forge National Historical Park (US-0761, KFF-0761) and allotted myself an hour of operating time. While I was there, I tried out a few things with my Elecraft KH1.

I set up the KH1 at a picnic table and used the whip antenna and AXE1 extender coil. I supported the antenna with a right-angle adapter from Tufteln. This was the first opportunity I had to use the adapter, so I was anxious to try it out. For my counterpoise, I used a homebrew setup with a 13-ft wire and a 20-foot extension for 40M.

The KH1 with the AXE1 loading coil for 40M/30M and the Tufteln right-angle adapter.

I also gave my CWMouse paddles another go. I glued four small magnets to them the night before, so I wanted to see how they worked with my clipboard. KE8PTX had a Facebook post recently in which he mentioned using painter’s tape on the metal surface of his knee board to give his paddles a little extra traction. As luck would have it, I was doing some painting this week and had some tape handy. I put some on the steel strips on my clipboard right before I left the house.

I glued some magnets to my CWMouse paddles. The blue painter's tape helps the magnets get a better grip. You can see the notation I made in my log for my 10th contact. — I glued some magnets to my CWMouse paddles. The blue painter’s tape helps the magnets get a better grip on the steel strips glued to the clipboard. You can also see the notation I made in my log for my 10th contact.

With everything set up, I tuned up the KH1 and got started. My results on 40M really surprised me. Although my signal reports were on the low side, I was getting some decent spots on the Reverse Beacon Network. It took only 13 minutes to log my first 10 contacts. I continued making contacts for 30 minutes, while brushing ants off of my log. (I think there was an anthill under the picnic table. Doh!)

I spent the rest of my hour-long activation on 30M and 20M. There was less activity there, but I picked up a few more contacts on each band.

When my hour was up, I packed up and gave the ants exclusive use of the picnic table. I finished up with 25 contacts in my log; I’ve done much worse with much better antennas. The KH1 did an amazing job with just the whip antenna, and my modified CWMouse paddles worked great attached to my clipboard.

As you can probably tell, I’m having fun with my new rig.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Paddle Problems & POTA

My (far) better half and I spent the past weekend with family out in central Pennsylvania. During the weekend, I squeezed in a quick, early morning POTA activation. The great band conditions made for a fun activation, but paddle problems made it challenging at one point.

On Saturday morning, I was up before everyone else. After downing a cup of coffee, I took a short drive to a boat launch on the Susquehanna River to activate the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail (US-4567).

We drove out in my (far) better half’s car, so I used a simple antenna setup that produced decent results in the past. I used my Gabil GRA-7350TC on a small magnetic mount. Like the last time I used it on my (far) better half’s car, I easily adjusted it for a 1.3:1 SWR on 40M. I fed the coax through the passenger side window.

Gabil GRA-7350TC antenna on a magnetic mount

Inside the car, I set my Elecraft KH1 on the center console. I used my cheap QU-21C paddles attached to a clipboard with a homebrew magnetic mount I made for them.

The 40M band was hot with no trace of the QRM I experienced the last time I was there. It only took 14 minutes to log my first 10 contacts, the contacts came in steadily for the next 45 minutes.

I was cruising right along for about 30 minutes until my cheap paddles decided to start dropping “dits” here and there. Based on my crazy sending, I’m sure some folks thought I was experiencing some sort of medical emergency.

I frantically searched for my N6ARA Tiny Paddle that I always carry as a backup. Of course, they were nowhere to be found. I ended up using the stock KH1 paddles attached to the radio, with the KH1 on the center armrest. This setup was an ergonomic nightmare, with my elbow in the backseat area. Despite the awkward position I was in, I was able to finish up my activation.

My setup after my paddle problems started. On hindsight, I could have arranged things better to make my operating position a little less awkward.

After an hour, I had 39 contacts in my log. I was so occupied on 40M, I never got around to trying the higher bands. My log included 7 park-to-park contacts. One of those was with N4JAW (aka Ham on a Bike). It’s always fun working Jim down in Kentucky.

I also heard from my friend, Greg WA3GM. It had been a while since our last QSO, so it was great to hear him again.

The Gabil antenna and mag mount setup once again proved to be a great antenna when using my (far) better half’s car. With about 4.5 watts out on 40M, I worked stations up and down eastern U.S. and Canada and out to several mid-west states.

The QU-21C paddles, however, are a different story. This is the second time I have had issues with them. A squirt or two of contact cleaner will usually fix the problem—for a while, anyway. As they say: You buy cheap, you get cheap.

And, of course, I found my N6ARA paddles as I was packing up. Doh!

72, Craig WB3GCK

Getting Re-Acquainted with my KH1

A little over a month ago, the finals in my brand new Elecraft KH1 gave up the ghost during my second outing with it. After a trip back to the factory for some TLC from the Elecraft folks, the rig safely arrived back in Pennsylvania this week. I anxiously took the little rig out to the field this morning to get re-acquainted with it.

My destination today was Evansburg State Park (US-1351, KFF-1351). With an active geomagnetic field, I knew band conditions could make for a tough outing.

Along with my KH1, I used a new antenna I bought from AD8HK Antenna Systems and received just yesterday. This antenna features a 9:1 unun with 17’9.5″ radiator and a 8’10.5″ counterpoise wire. The unun assembly has an integrated wire winder, making for a neat, compact little antenna. I mounted the antenna on a 19-foot pole and ran 20 feet of RG-316 back to the KH1.

The AD8HK 9:1 Random Wire Antenna strapped to a telescoping pole

With the KH1 resting on my knee, I did a quick check of the bands from 40M through 15M. The KH1’s internal tuner easily found a decent match on all five bands. I went back to 40M and got started.

My newly-repaired Elecraft KH1 balanced on my knee

Despite the questionable band conditions, I logged seven contacts in about 15 minutes. I made another five contacts on 20M and 17M before calling it quits. The nice shady spot where I started out was quickly becoming a toaster oven.

I ended my brief outing with twelve contacts, including four park-to-park contacts. My KH1 has been out of commission for the past month, so I spent a good portion of my time refreshing my memory on the KH1’s menus and functions. The KH1 is thoughtfully laid out, so it all came back quickly.

Today wasn’t the best day for evaluating a new antenna, but the AD8HK EFRW did a decent job. Plus, it was great to have the KH1 back on the air. Both will see more use in the field in the future.

[Update 9/9/2025: During this activation, the KH1’s output power seemed low. As it turned out, the KH1 had been inadvertently set for low power. So, I was only running about two watts. Doh! I guess I need some more re-familiarization with this rig!]

72, Craig WB3GCK

Round Two with the AD8HK EFRW

A while back I purchased one of AD8HK’s end-fed random wire (EFRW) antennas. I tried it for the first time during my ill-fated Flight of the Bumblebees (FOBB) outing. With everything that went wrong that day, the AD8HK antenna certainly deserved a better evaluation—at least one where I wasn’t in a panic over problems with my newly acquired Elecraft KH1.

The AD8HK EFRW is a really slick little antenna. It consists of a 15-foot radiator and a 7.5-foot counterpoise wire. It has a neat 3-D printed winder for the wires that also incorporates a 4:1 unun and BNC connector. It’s compact and well-built. AD8HK Antenna Systems sells this antenna (and other offerings) through eBay.

During my infamous FOBB outing, I fed the antenna with 6 feet of RG-316 coax. It loaded up on 30M through 15M, but neither my KH1 nor my Elecraft T1 tuner could find a match on 40M. I’m not sure what the issue was, but I didn’t have much time to look into it.

Sometime later, tried the same length wires with one of my homebrew 4:1 ununs. That time I used 20 feet of RG-316, and it loaded up fine on all bands.

The AD8HK winder/unun. The gray thing is a Velcro strap I used to secure it to the pole. — The AD8HK winder/unun secured to the pole with a Velcro strap.

This morning I took the AD8HK EFRW over to Valley Forge National Historical Park (US-0761, KFF-0761) for an activation. I supported the antenna with a 20-foot pole and my homebrew ground mount. I fed the antenna with 20 feet of RG-316, and this time my T1 ATU easily found a match on 40M. It also loaded up fine on 30M through 17M.

A 15-foot radiator isn’t going to be a barn burner on 40M; however, this little antenna certainly held its own today. I easily logged 13 contacts on 40M before moving on to try other bands. When I wrapped up after a little over an hour, I had twenty contacts in the log, with four park-to-park contacts. I made contacts on all four bands covered by my Penntek TR-35 (40M-17M), and I was pleased to work W6LEN out in California on 20M.

My usual set up: Penntek TR-35 and Elecraft T1 ATU

After today, the AD8HK EFRW has definitely earned a spot in the KH1 kit I’m putting together. It’s easy to deploy and has a relatively small footprint.

Thanks to NU4F for the nice spot from Florida

Speaking of my KH1… I heard from Elecraft a few days ago. They replaced the FET in the final amplifier, and now the rig is on its way home. I can’t wait to get it back on the air.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Skeeter Hunt 2025

Once again, the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt contest coincided with our annual family vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I’m certainly not a hardcore contester, but I wanted to set aside some time to make a few contacts from North Carolina. Although our rental house was beautiful, it presented some challenges for ham radio.

WB3GCK operating in the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt contest — Operating in the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt contest

After a long drive down and all the unloading/unpacking the day before, I didn’t feel like getting too crazy putting up an antenna. Although this was our first time in this rental house, I had a good feel for the layout from online research.

My "shack" for the week — My “shack” for the week

My previous experience has shown that these rental properties come with a lot of RF noise, both from within the house and from neighboring houses. The house this year was no exception. So, I stayed away from vertical antennas near the house and went with an end-fed random wire sloper.

The antenna this year was a 35-foot wire, sloping down from the 3rd-story deck. I fed it through my homebrew weather-resistant 9:1 unun and ran 25 feet of coax into a screened-in porch on the same level. I attached the end of the wire to a fence around the pool area, making sure it wouldn’t get in anyone’s way. The wire was a bit long, so I ran the last two feet horizontally along the top of the fence.

My antenna feedpoint. The far end of my random wire sloped down to the fence by the pool.

I fired up my KX3 and checked the bands. A quick contact with a POTA activator on 40M confirmed it was putting out some sort of signal. The noise on 40M, however, was horrendous in places. The higher bands were better but still somewhat noisy. I hunted four POTA activators while experimenting with the antenna. Two of the contacts were easy, while the other two were tough going.

I also had to contend with some audio interference from my grandkids having fun in the pool down below. Anticipating this, I brought along a pair of over-the-ear headphones this year. Unfortunately, the headphones were no match for four exuberant kids.

Once the contest started, the noise level on 40M was about S3 in parts of the band, and S5-S7 in other parts. There was also a loud noise signal that would slowly sweep across the band from time to time. Despite the noise, I worked four skeeters and one very confused QRO station who wasn’t in the contest. He probably thought I was a POTA activator and couldn’t figure out why I needed to know his power output.

Up on 20M, the noise was lower but still present. I didn’t hear much Skeeter Hunt activity, despite getting some respectable hits on the Reverse Beacon Network. I ended up with a pair of Missouri skeeters in the log. I tried calling CQ on 15M with no luck.

After a little over an hour, I threw in the towel. My operating position was facing west across Currituck Sound, so my nice shady spot was giving way to the afternoon sun. Before I pulled the plug, I had one last contact on 40M with a friend back in Pennsylvania.

So, my 2025 Skeeter Hunt results were less than stellar. Although it was frustrating working through the noise, I still had fun. Plus, the scenery from my temporary “shack” was outstanding.

72, Craig WB3GCK

More Antenna Testing in Valley Forge

In my last post, I talked about using a simple antenna comprising a 15-foot radiator, a 7.5-foot counterpoise, and a 4:1 unun. It worked well, but I found it a little touchy to tune on 40M. Today, I tried the same configuration, but with a slightly longer radiator and counterpoise.

I wanted to add a little length to the radiator, but limit it to 19 feet, so I could still use my lightweight 19.5-foot telescoping pole to support it. Looking at a table of random wire antenna lengths to avoid, it seemed like 18 feet might be a good choice for 40M through 15M, my primary bands of interest. Scaling the counterpoise wire proportionately, I went with a length of 9 feet.

Just as I was getting ready to cut a set of wires to try out, I stumbled on a video by Thomas K4SWL. In the video, he was using an antenna built by AD8HK that used a radiator length of 17’9” and a counterpoise length of 8’10.5”. I went with those dimensions, since they were very close to what I was considering and seemed to work with Thomas’s KH1.

On the Air

To try it out, I made a quick trip over to Valley Forge National Historical Park (US-0761, KFF-0761). Using the same 4:1 unun and coax as the last time, I made a quick check to see how my Elecraft T1 loaded up on the bands. The tuner quickly found a match on 40M, 30M, 20M. On 17M, however, it seemed to struggle. I went back to 40M and got started with my activation.

This wasn’t the best day to be doing this. The geomagnetic field was unsettled with a K index of 4 and the A index sitting at 47. Nevertheless, the callers showed up, although at a somewhat slower pace than usual.

After I had 14 contacts in the log, I decided to spend the rest of my limited time playing around with the antenna. When I went back and checked 17M, the T1 tuned it up without flinching. I also rearranged the counterpoise wire so it ran 180 degrees opposite of my coax. Checking the bands again, the T1 reliably matched 40M through 17M.

Convinced that the new wire lengths work, I went back to the 15-foot radiator and 7.5-foot counterpoise I used a few days earlier. This time, the T1 had no issues loading up on 40M. Go figure!

I really wanted to give the unun with the smaller ferrite core another shot. When I last tried it with the 15-foot & 7.5-foot wires, neither my KH1 nor my T1 could find a match on 40M. Unfortunately, I neglected to put it in my backpack before I left. I’ll have to save that for another time.

The Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) Weekend Sprintathon contest was going on this weekend, and I worked one SKCC station while tuning around the bands. This month, the WES theme was homebrew keys. In the spirit of the contest, I made the contact using a straight key I built a few years ago from junk box parts.

My homebrew straight key constructed from odds and ends in my junk box — My homebrew straight key constructed from odds and ends from my junk box

Conclusions

So it looks like both the 15’/7.5’ and 17’9”/8’10.5” configurations are usable with my homebrew 4:1 unun. Given a choice, though, I would probably stick with the longer wires.

One other thing is clear: short random wires can sometimes be finicky little critters. When in doubt, rearrange the counterpoise wire.

72, Craig WB3GCK

Antenna Testing at Ridley Creek

On Wednesday, August 7th, I set out to do some antenna experimentation. So, why not get in a POTA/WWFF activation at the same time? To kill those two birds with one stone, I drove down to Ridley Creek State Park (US-1414, KFF-1414). (Disclaimer: No birds were actually harmed during this activation.)

I saw some discussion on the Internet about an antenna configuration I found intriguing. It’s just a 15-foot radiator and a 7.5-foot counterpoise wire fed through a 4:1 unun. Folks claim they work on 40M through 15M—with a tuner, of course. I’m a sucker for simple, field-expedient antennas, so I gave it a try during the recent Flight of the Bumblebees contest.

With the unun I used, I had mixed results. I couldn’t get the antenna to load on 40M, but it seemed to do fine on 30M through 15M. I wanted to try the same configuration, but with a larger 4:1 unun I built a several years ago. After cutting another set of 15-foot and 7.5-foot wires, I was ready to go.

When I got to the park, I headed to a spot I had been using a lot lately. It’s off the beaten path and well away from the other park visitors. Using my homebrew ground mount, I set up the antenna on a lightweight 19-ft telescoping pole I bought years ago on eBay. I ran 20 feet of RG-316 coax over to my Penntek TR-35 and Elecraft T1 tuner.

My operating position at Ridley Creek State Park — My operating position

Before I started my activation, I gave the antenna a quick check. The antenna was an easy match on 30M through 17M, but it took two tries before the T1 found a good match on 40M.

Despite the slightly fussy tuning on 40M, the antenna didn’t do too badly on that band. I logged 12 contacts before the activity slowed down. I next tried 30M, but there were no takers. Moving up to 20M, I logged three more stations. Up on 17M, I worked one last station in Alabama. After an hour on the air, I had 16 stations in the log, including five park-to-park contacts.

Selfie at Ridley Creek State Park with my antenna in the background — Something in the woods behind me was not happy with my presence. Fortunately, I never came face-to-face with whatever it was.

I had better luck with this antenna configuration this time around. The unun I used for this outing uses a larger iron powder toroid (T130-2, as I recall) compared to the smaller ferrite core used in the other unun. Also, the longer run of coax I used this time was probably a contributing factor.

In any event, this configuration can definitely work. Granted, it’s a compromise antenna, but it’s super simple to deploy for casual operating in the field. Still, I think a slightly longer radiator would make for an easier match on 40M.

I have another configuration in mind that I plan to try soon.

72, Craig WB3GCK

The Disastrous Flight of Bumblebee 24

Actually, this bumblebee ‌barely got off the ground at all this year. It started off with a heartbreaking rig failure and ended with some horrendous local noise.

I had a late-breaking change of plans this week. I originally planned to operate in the Flight of the Bumblebees (FOBB) contest from a nearby POTA entity. Instead, I ended up in central Pennsylvania helping a family member recovering from a recent surgery.

So, I activated Plan B: take my new KH1 along and make a few contacts from the backyard. What could go wrong with that? A lot, as it turns out.

Using my homebrew ground mount, I set up a new antenna on my lightweight telescopic pole. The antenna comprises a 15-foot radiator and a 7.5-ft counterpoise fed through a 4:1 unun. (More about that antenna in another post.) I ran a 6-foot length of RG-316 coax over to the KH1.

I easily got a 1:1 match on 20M and up, but it wouldn’t load up at all on 40M. Going back to 20M, I started operating. Something on the display didn’t look right. It turned out that I wasn’t getting any power output. When I pressed the ATU button, I heard some relay clicking, but there was no power or SWR displayed after tuning. When I keyed up, the display showed zero bars of power and one bar for SWR.

I checked to make sure I wasn’t in “Test” mode (I wasn’t). Next, I started pouring through the settings to make sure I hadn’t messed something up. Nothing looked out of the ordinary to me. I tried the built-in whip on 20M, but still no power out.

After spending an inordinate amount of time playing around with the KH1, I packed it up and brought out my Penntek TR-35. My trusty Elecraft T1 ATU also refused to load up on 40M.

WB3GCK equipment set up for the 2025 Flight of the Bumblebees contest

So, 20M was the only band working for me, given the rig I was using. I could have set up a different antenna, but I didn’t have that much time.

The 20M band had some horrendous local noise, so it was rough going. I worked one bumblebee in Missouri, and that was it. Frustrated with my inability to hear any other FOBB activity through the noise, I called it quits. I needed to get back inside to take care of a few things, anyway.

Having owned my KH1 for less than a week, you can imagine my disappointment. I shot off a message to the support folks at Elecraft, so hopefully, they can help get this issue resolved before I head down to North Carolina on vacation next month. (Fingers crossed)

I hope you all did better in the contest than me.

72, Craig WB3GCK