PREPERATION AND CONFIRMATION OF THE ANTENNA
Although I have built all sorts of antennas for all sorts of expeditions and operations, I have never had any experience in designing an antenna for such a tiny space.
It was easy to come up with a plan . . . but would it even work? If so, how well would it work?
It was obvious to me that the antenna I designed would only be efficient over salt water.
Never-the-less, Emil wanted to try it out in his back yard (like always).
So I packed my gear and drove to his QTH in Dreieich.
The photo above was taken "after" we had determined that the antenna actually worked.
Since Emil would not allow me to flood his back yard with salt water for the tests, we simulated the "underwater radial" by using two quarter-wave 'elevated' radials.
On the right: (DJ0IP) Don't you just love it when a plan actually works!
Below: The ICOM IC-705 with the tiny MFJ-902 tuner on the left.
Testing several bands was a lot of work.
We shared the workload equally . . .
Below: Emil running one of about 25 tests. We tested each band from 40-10m several times.
. . . While Emil ran the tests, Rick watched carefully to be sure he made no mistakes. ;-)
In the end, Emil was a Happy Camper!
. . . and Rick got his Beer!
AFTER the DX-Pedition:
In recognition of yet another "unique" DX-pedition, we (Spiderbeam) sent Emil a new fiberglass mast.
It was delivered to him by Denis (Bonito), our Spiderbeam Reseller, at the Friedrichshafen HAM RADIO 2005 hamfest.