The weekend before last, I decided at the last minute to try and operate portable at Ilise’s parents house in Tiverton, RI. I quickly whipped up a 40m dipole, grabbed the extra 27′ length of ladder line I had left-over, a couple packs of generic cord, my rig, headset, logbook, power supply, and bug spray.
One end of the dipole was supported from the top of their bedroom window (25-30′ above the ground since it’s over the walk-out basement). The other was tied as far up as I could get it in a tree down the slope towards the water. Basically a dipole sloper with the upper end at 25-30′ and the lower end and ~12′. The low end pointed into the sunset, so basically west. I’m also guessing that I was setting up ~1/4 mile or less from the Narragansett Bay (actually the north end of the Sakonnet River). Maybe the proximity to salt water helped my signal get out…who knows?!
Anyhow, I made a number of contacts from Nova Scotia to Califormia, with good signals into Texas (three TX contacts!)
This little venture definitely showed that my attic antenna is rather handicapped. Hopefully additional antennas in the woods behind my house will be an improvement and won’t push Ilise over the edge. It’s a shame she’s not on-board with a hobby that I enjoy so much.
73,
-john AB1HJ