I tried my first Buddipole portable set up near the beach today and certainly picked a good day for it. I meant to photograph the antenna but stupidly forgot!
I went to Kwinana Beach, near Rockingham and set it up in a vertical configuration about 4 metres off the ground and estimate that it was about 25-30 metres away from the ocean. It tuned up immediately with no problems and I was up and running. It was a good day with little wind blowing.
When I switched on the radio I immediately noticed how busy 20 metres was with many strong signals from Europe coming through. I made contacts into Bulgaria, Slovenia and finally spoke with Steve MW0ZZK at length who I’ve previously worked on 20 metres and 10 metres. Steve peaked at over 5/9 at one point during the QSO.
Steve was also receiving me up to 5/8 so all working nicely. I did a comparison with my car’s vertical antenna and to my surprise there was only one signal point difference from the Buddipole (the Buddipole was slightly stronger). The same result from Slovenia. I’m going to try and get closer to the water next time but what a location and pleasant afternoon.
Tagged with: amateur radio • amateur radio gear • buddipole • Buddipole antenna • Kwinana Beach • portable • portable radio session
Filed under: Amateur Radio
