V-dipole antenna for BOTA trolley
I have been out of play for a few days but at least I have had time to prepare my new radio setup for Beaches On The Air. I just uploaded this video for you to see. When I was a SOTA champion (hi hi) I used just a vertical whip with 3 or 4 counterpoise wires lying on the ground, and up until now I have been using the same antenna setup for Beaches On The Air. However, I've been unhappy with the counterpoise wires lying around where tourists could trip over them, and hence I came up with this new idea of a V-dipole for the sake of both ease of installation and safety. I hope you like it! I was using 20W on 17m SSB, indoors inside my appartment. The battery was at 11.8V.
Besides ease of installation and safety, this setup can be very versatile, and can become directional if you raise the live end of the antenna and point the counterpoise in the direction you're aiming at.
Components in this setup: Yaesu FT-897D transceiver with added 2.3kHz SSB Collins mechanical filter (not used); LDG YT-100 antenna tuner custom fitted inside the battery compartment of the radio; 2x military whip antenna originally from the DDR, I believe, bought off eBay; 2x Nagoya antenna mounts; 2x Turnigy 5000mAh 3S 11.1V LiPo battery bought from Hobbyking (one being used); shopping trolley bought from a local Chinese shop, with custom hardware.