I own the "big stick", as MFJ calls its 18ft/5.45m loaded telescopic whip antenna. A while back I mentioned it in these posts. Slowly, I came to like this antenna; it takes a very limited space with its 4x16ft radials and I usually bent them as available space dictates.

The MFJ-2286 with included coil is a multiband 6m-40m antenna, the loading coil has simple provision to adjust the number of turns involved in the process, the lengh of the whip can be also adjusted as needed. It takes little time to install or take down and I used it succesfully in my portable setup.

Recently I acquired a loading coil (SB Platinum 1000 from Wolf River Coils) to replace the included MFJ coil, and tried the modified antenna on 80m.

I should mention that 80m band always been hard to work with my antennas, none of them actually designed to work on 80m. My solution so far been to use antenna tuner to match the radio output to the antenna on 80m, try and pray. It worked for both voice (SSB) and digital (FT8), but it never worked good. After 3 years of hamming I had 30+ contacts on 80m, mostly stateside and some DX.

I installed the antenna with the coil in our little patio, next to house, threaded radials along the fence, added one 68ft/21m long radial for 80m band (had to snake it into the bushes outside of the fence) and tuned the setup to 80m with the help of my RigExpert AA-54 antenna analyser (the installation is not ideal due to proximity to the house and placement of the radials, hence the SWR):

I tested this setup on the air and compared it to my other not-quite-80m-antennas; my verdict is that this antenna is usable as NVIS-like 80m solution; the DX use is limited to CW or digital (FT8 and other weak signal modes) as bandwith is very narrow and the signal is weak (there were strange instances of long skip into Europe though). FT8 is a good test because most of the stations have simple vertical or dipole antennas (not beams) for this band. Here is the map showing how the other stations hear my signal (the transceiver, Flex 6300, was around 90W at the time):

And here is the map of recent contacts made with the modified MFJ-2286:

I liked the setup and will be using it from now on. It is not the best 80m vertical antenna, not even close, but for my situation it is a winner.

^photo from manufacturer's website^

I live in condo unit and most of my antennas are stealth affairs hidden behing the fences of my 2 patios, in the attic, strung along the roof edge and alike. By no means they work as good as the full size antennas of a similar disign, but they do work. For one, my fixed 17m wire moxon in the attic still surprises me every time I use it.

In the past I used the DIY small transmitting loop for 17-40m I build using old Russian vacuum capacitor and copper grounding strap from Georgia Copper. I made some SSB contacts on that antenna, but disassembled it as it wasn't robust enough of a setup/structure for me to use on a daily basis, just a proof of concept. At the time I had no antenna analyzer and it was pain to tune. But I liked the results, I remember reaching across the pond to Ireland on 20m SSB with ease, so I always wanted to finish the project.

Fast forward to October 2020, I saw >this< STL antenna on Internet. It looked ok, the description sounded even better, and I ordered it.

This weekend I assembled and tested the antenna, at first from inside the house at the 2nd floor as there was a tropical storm here in Miami for 2 days, and then, when the weather cleared, repeated tests outside, at ground level, next to the house.For testing, I decided to use FT8 as this is very sensitive mode and one can see instantly how the signal propagates/heard around the globe.

If you never used a small transmitting loop antenna, you should know that it is not the easiest antenna to tune. SWR plot's minimum could be very sharp and the antenna has to be tuned precisely to the frequency where it needed to be, otherwise the signal will not be best, even if the tuner is able to match the load to radio's output. The advantage of this particular loop antenna in its big butterfly-type capacitor with large dial, which helps fine tune the capacitance (that is how you tune the antenna). I used my antenna analyzer to help tune the antenna:

^17m SWR plot, inside placement^^17m SWR plot, outside placement^

In house, the loop worked, but it was clearly compromized/attenuated/strongly influenced by the metal cage of the house and the objects in the room. This was obvious as I could not bring SWR down to less than 2 units before using the tuner, and by the signal reports I received (see below signal report maps). Nevetheless, I made 23 contacts, 4 DX (Azores, Mexico, Switzerland and Germany) and the rest was stateside. I started from using the antenna on low power setting but then, looking at the signal reports, brought it up to 90W and left it there for the duration of the test.The loop handled this level of power with no issues.

Here is the screenshot taken shortly after the QSO with CU6NS in Azores on 17m (antenna is inside the house!):

^^WSJT interface window top left with waterfall on top, JTAlert at bottom left, Flex radio interface (SmartSDR) in the center, interfaces to KAT 500 tuner and Elecraft SWR meter on the right. Click image for the original.

I compared the working of the antenna when it was placed outside with my other antennas, both hidden:

• bent 10m-40m doublet strung under the eves of the house at 20ft/6m high: the Magloop was much more sensitive on receive and at least as good or better on transmit
• attic wire moxon for 17m: moxon was better in its favorable directions, in all other directions the loop was on par or better.

To install the loop ouside, I had to weather protect it:

The placement was not ideal (small patio next to the 2 story house), but it was immediately obvious how much the things improved: the min SWR went from 2 to 1, and the reported SNR improved greatly.

Here is couple of maps from https://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html site taken during the test on 20m and 40m.

Here is the map of some of the contacts made using the antenna:

Most if not all of the stations reporting good SNR were using beam antennas, but that's expected. There is no miracle here, just the quality made, robust small transmitting loop. I am happy to play with it and can recommend it to anyone who is interested in portable HF antennas.

73

I never been much into 6m until now; I have been told that one needs at least 3-el beam to make a QSO by means of E-skip propagation. I don't have a place to put a beam; I live in a condo unit and rules regarding antennas are very strict. My HF antennas are hidden in the attic or strung along the roof so they are invisible. But, somehow my MFJ-2286 17-ft wip sways between the trees which surround my patio, 24/7, unnoticed. Until recently, I used it for HF. Couple of weeks ago I tuned to 6 testing my Flex 6300 and noticed a bunch of FT8 signals at 50.313 MHz; since then I'm hooked into sporading E.

Now a few words on the necessity of a beam. Well, of course if one wants to challenge the limits of VHF propagation, be successful in VHF contests, shoot for the Moon and alike then yes, the beam is due. But as my experience in HF shows the beam is often present on the other side! And because beam antenna is so popular and easy to install for VHF, most of my VHF QSOs is between my antenna -- in this case, a vertical, and a multi-element beam on the other side!

As a proof, here is a map of my recent contacts on 6m:

...and here is how I was heard yesterday, during the CQ WW VHF Contest in which I participated and made some 28 QSOs:

So, if all you have is a simple vertical antenna, do not hesitate and try VHF during sporadic E season: it might surprise you!

73!

I signed these petitions to help our brothers across the pond keep 2 meters in their toolbox:
https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-2-meter-amateur-radio-band-144-146mhz-from-becoming-a-aeronautical-band
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/2-metre-amateur-band-must-be-kept

If you decide to sign, be aware that the 2nd accepts UK postal codes only, so be creative and use one!

In little over a year since I've my call changed to K4MJA, I am on my 1000+ QSO. These are a mix of digital (FT8) and SSB QSOs. My Morse code studies are not going well, mostly because of me been lazy and my memory not as good as its use to be...oh well.

Anyway, hope to catch you on the air and until then,

73!

This post marks 3rd year of my ham activities. I got first licensed in 2012, but went on the air 5 years later, in 2017, when I got my General ticket. After years of involvement I decided that:

• remote connection to the shack I have configured is inadequate and also
• that I want permanent HF mobile setup with separate transceiver/tuner/antenna/batteries etc

From the beginning, my only transceiver had been Icom IC-7300 and it is still going strong, accompanied by Elecraft KPA500 linear amp and Kessler AT-Auto antenna tuner. I like the transceiver very much and want to use it mobile/portable (and did it on a few occasions, see here and here). So, for a while

I pondered acquiring another Icom 7300, but the idea somehow sounded silly and I ended up with used Flex 6300 box, which went through FRS' "pre-hated" re-sale system.

I installed the radio in parallel with Icom setup (same antennas though). I liked SmartSDR interface, it went naturally with my operating style. Part of it might be the fact that I am an old IT guy and all things computer are my daily bread.

At first, I used small LDG IT-100 antenna tuner with the Flex, but this tuner is Icom-specific and while it can be used in the shack with non-icom transceiver -- all you need is a power cable -- remotely, it is not accessible without Icom host radio. So, I decided to add yet another tuner which would

• handle at least 500W output of my Elecraft KPA500 and
• will be accessible remotely from the PC;

Elecraft KAT500 was the answer. I also added Elecraft W2 wattmeter for the same reason: it can be accessed remotely with an app. I acquired both as kits and last weekend I assembled the KAT500 and the W2 -- both went together with no problems, thanks to the great documentation/packaging by Elecraft. Another addition is Bulgarian-made antenna switch with web interface (MS-S7-WEB), tested and in use, replacing Ameritron RCS-8V switch (which by the way is in the process to be rebuild for remote access, too).

My remote shack is now complete. It is joy to use locally, and it works remotely in team viewer session like a charm. Icom 7300 is now serves as a voice operating position only and I will be using it often for all out-of-shack activities.

So here are my recent projects,
73 and have fun with yours!

I went on the air one year ago as KK4MJA; last weekend I celebrated my ham anniversary by participating in IARU Word Championship, now as K4MJA. As always, with my antennas and time available (not much of either), I had no intention to compete but rather to support the real competitors by my effort. I made some contacts and enjoyed it very much. I think it will be even more exiting as I will be able to do the CW...still in the process of leaning it. Here is the map of my contacts during the contest: K4MJA->>IARU HF Championship contact map 73!