[FQP] [FCG] FW: Relative Signals in the FQP

Mon May 2 18:04:40 PDT 2011

My less informed but no less sincere opinion: it depends on your purpose.
K0BG seems to have his head on straight and appears to be technically on
point to this appliance operator. However, there are crucial differences
between HF mobile operating as a discipline and mobile contesting.

Mobile contesting as in the FQP is distinct from operating a mobile HF
station in a few distinct and important ways:

1. The majority of high-scoring entrants who make 2000+ QSOs are exclusively
or nearly exclusively operating CW, which requires a lower SNR. Accordingly,
you can get by with a weaker signal and still command a frequency.

2. Speaking of commanding the frequency, in FQP there are distinct
frequencies where mobiles can be found, and the majority of out of state
participants know where to look for them. Competition between home stations
and mobile stations is minimal. Consider this; micro-lite DXPeditions go to
a remote island a long way from the major ham population centers in EU and
the USA. They operate with 100w radios and verticals on the beach, but
nobody ever complains about their signal strength. They could be stronger if
they'd take an amplifier and bigger antennas, but they're not getting
stepped on, even with a weak signal.

3. Finally and most importantly, the caliber of operator in the mobiles in
FQP is typically very high. Better operators are going to find a way to make
more QSOs than average operators, even given crappy antennas.

All that said, I do believe that it's very likely that most of the mobiles
could improve their signals with more attention to K0BG's guidance. However,
it's not particularly important. W3LPL told a group of us once that some
contests (like Field Day, his example) are 579 contests, and others (like
CQWW) are 599+ contests. I think what he meant was that, to be competitive
in Field Day, you don't need to be the loudest guy on the band, you just
need to be relatively loud. FQP is the same. Being the loudest mobile won't
guarantee you the highest score. Being the mobile with the best technique
and fewest technical mishaps will put you in a position to score well.

73,
Chris WF3C

On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 8:32 PM, W4ZW <w4zw at comcast.net> wrote:

> I'm certainly no expert on mobile antennas, but after fooling with them for
> 50+ years I can offer my empirical opinion.  I've used everything from
> bug-catchers, old time Hustlers, steel whips/tuners, etc.
>
>
>
> And my first satisfying mobile antenna was the original BIG High Sierra
> frame mounted on my Cadillac at the time with a BIG steel whip.  It was too
> long to tune 10M and I couldn't use any drive-thru’s, but it really worked
> well.  XYL hated it because it was so big and ugly, but hey, it was my car,
> not hers.
>
>
>
> But to keep the peace,  tried the ICOM AH tuner/whip.  Poor.  Tried a
> single
> 102" steel whip with both the ICOM AH and the Kenwood AT-300; poor.
> Switched to the Tarheel, smaller but still no joy.  These all worked, but
> not as well as that old High Sierra in my opinion.  I still have that High
> Sierra and the custom made mount I had a machine shop fabricate that bolted
> to the Cadillac’s frame.
>
>
>
> In my first FQP I mounted a Yaesu ATAS-120 for band-hopping on one of the
> Escalade’s roof rack cross rails, and a 20M Hamstick on the other.  I
> quickly discovered that the big 20M hamstick on top of the escalade with a
> direct body ground at the base worked MUCH better.
>
>
>
> After all that, I think a hamstick on a high roof (van, SUV) centered if
> possible with a direct ground to the roof is pretty hard to beat.  Can't
> use
> the drive-thru's and some bridges bounce a bit, but it works pretty well in
> my opinion.  Only thing better would be a specially made trailer towed
> antenna like K5KG and others use.
>
>
>
> This tall (18’) Buddi-Pole is a pretty good antenna for mobile/fixed
> operation. It comes with stakes and nylon guys for any kind of windy
> condition.  I bought these for our school clubs to use for quick setup and
> takedown, and we worked just about anybody we could hear with 100w.  We
> preferred the vertical element with the lower one at an angle that gave us
> a
> good SWR.  We also used the 33’ verticals from Eagle One (
> <http://www.w8afx.com/> http://www.w8afx.com/) with ICOM AH-4’s and had
> very
> good results with a good ground and minimal radials.  For the schools, we
> bonded the grounds to the schools’ tin roofs.  With one of MFJ’s heavy duty
> tripods, a good weight, an AH-4,  and pre-cut radials, it worked quite
> well.
>
>
>
> I agree with Jeff’s thoughts.
>
>
>
> My 2 cents.
>
>
>
> 73's from 10,000'
>
>
>
>
>
> Jon Hamlet, W4ZW/Ø
>
> Breckenridge, Colorado
>
>
>
> ================================
>
>
>
> We all know most mobile antennas are inefficient but I think the Hamsticks
> and Hustler mobile antennas are far from being dummy loads. If you mount
> them on a good high spot on the car/minivan and make a reasonable effort to
> ground them you will find they work pretty good
>
>
>
> I would be interested in hearing some thoughts on this ?
>
>
>
>
>
> Jeff KU8E
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Chris Plumblee
407.494.5155