I ran out to Sam Lewis, US-1418, to activate when the rain stopped.
I took a few minutes to setup my normal EFHW running North-South to operate more to the East and West, though I did get a contact to Colombia.
I operated mostly low-power FT8, 1-4W, but mostly 2W. I chased and got 1 CW contact before it started getting cold and dark.
I went camping and operated there and in Michaux Forest, Pine Grove Furnace, and Caledonia. I ran the 40M EFHW in trees at the parks as a sloper and inverted-V for 40M, 10M, and 15M. I did FT8 and a little CW.
At the campground, I contacted NY and ME on CW on 40M in the morning using the Gabil slider coil and whip. I discoverd that the my older Gabil antenna with jumpers on the coil has different thread size for the whip, so not interchangeable.
I was seeing high SWR on the 80M EFHW: over 3:1+. I found counterpoise was chewed and broken, so I twisted it back together, but I saw no change. I disconnected the counterpoise completely, and that made no difference: still 3:1. I finally unscrewed and re-screwed the rusty alligator clamp and reattached it. That fixed it!
Previously, it seemed I’d sometimes see high SWR for a a moment, then it would recover. It seemed like giving it a little power would “clean up” something.
The home antenna wire comes down every once in a while. I soldered and re-hung it, and it looks good. It seems to need a little power put through it, and then the SWR looks good. I wonder if some static accumulated, and that is causing higher SWR for a moment.
I visited French Creek State Park (US-1355).
I deployed my 40-meter EFHW, strung up into a convenient tree. I operated with low power, typically between 1-2 watts, on the 10-meter, 40-meter, and 20-meter bands.
I primary operated FT8, and I also attempted some PSK, but no one responded.
Today I experimented with building a 64:1 unun for an 80-meter EFHW.
My initial attempt involved 3 primary / 24 secondary windings, but I quickly found that this took up too much space on the small toroid I was using.
After some adjustments, I settled on a 2 primary / 16 secondary windings, adding a 100pF capacitor. This configuration was inspired by resources like KM1NDY’s DIY linked EFHW 64:1 antenna guide.
I’m now successfully running my home EFHW antenna on 40 meters without needing a tuner. On 17 meters, the SWR is a bit high, so I engage the tuner for that band.
This setup reminds me a lot of my previous 71-foot random wire antenna with a 9:1 balun. I’m noticing a significant increase in the number of signals I’m receiving, which suggests this new EFHW might be a considerable improvement over my old 107-foot EFRW.
I launched my 80M EFHW at home, replacing my previous random wire setup. I’ve trimmed it up and folded it back, but it still needs the tuner to touch it up. I’m seeing the expected harmonics near each ham band, which is a good sign. My next step is to build a new 49:1 transformer for it.
Rain was predicted later in the weekend, so I headed out to Marietta Riverfront Park (US-4567) for a quick activation to beat the rain. My initial plan was to rebuild my EFHW antenna, but I cut the new wire six inches too short, and I didn’t have enough wire on the spool to start again.
I opted for my 12.5m EFRW instead. It was 7 PM, so I focused my efforts on the 40m. I successfully got about 18 contacts before I packed up for the evening.
I went to the 985 breakfast and chatted lots of Vic and Jerry.
After breakfast, I hit the parks for some POTA. I started at Middle Creek where I tested my EFHW vs the Tactical Delta Loop.
Next, I setup at State Game Land 156 down the road with the telescoping antenna for a CB walkie talkie.
I visited Gifford Pinchot State Part, US-1356, and strung up the EFHW from a picnic table to a tree. I managed it in 1 throw to a nice spot. I made 20 contacts:
Using R1CBU 0.29.1, I knew to pay special attention to undo the AM bug from SWR Scan by switching through modes after an SWR Scan. In this firmware, though, WSJTX would set digital mode (USB-D) and it would bounce back to USB, which doesn’t take sound from the connection to the computer. I had to work around it by disabling WSJTX’s ability to set the mode. Then I could set USB-D and it would stay there.
