So I’m down in Florida right now, Naples/Collier County to be exact, in grid EL96. I’ve finally managed to bring an HF rig down with me for the first time. The question was, what antenna was I going to use?
I finally bit the bullet and bought a Buddipole Deluxe. Small enough to fit in the big suitcase we brought for my wife’s stuff (she is doing a presentation at a symposium next week and brought things for the group’s auction), and according to the specs, good down to 40 meters. The rest of the gear went into a Nanuk case from DX Engineering and was FedEx’ed to a friend’s house down here, because I didn’t want to have to explain ham radio to TSA.
The rig is my Yaesu FT-857D. It’s got an LDG Z-11ProII tuner with it and I’m using a SignaLink for digital work. Which is mostly what I’m doing — sticking to JT modes just to make it easy, because I’m working holiday-style. That means, whenever the XYL is at the beach, I can be on the radio.
I didn’t bring any batteries or solar equipment, so I’m stuck with wall socket juice and a Samlex SEC-1235M switching power supply that is running everything through a small RigRunner. I’m also stuck in the condo for an operating position, which means…
…the Buddipole is set up in the condo’s living room.
Yep, that’s right. I have the Buddipole set up in a second-floor living room at just about ceiling height, which puts it about 20′ AGL. The Gulf of Mexico is across the street and the building backs up to a salt-water canal. The antenna is pointing roughly ENE/WSW and is configured for 20 meters.
And I’m working hams on JT9 (using WSJT-X of course) in European Russia, France, and Portugal, as well as the US. I’m receiving signals as far down in the mud as -26 and had one report back of -27.
I would never have thought this antenna would do that, given the constraints I’m working under.
Color me impressed, Buddipole. Color me impressed.
ETA: Bad cell phone pictures.
