X80 vertical antenna

In the garage I have an SRC X80 multi-band HF vertical. I used this briefly (before my stroke) at the old QTH. It blows around in the wind, but worked quite well as I remember. With my LDG QRP ATU it might serve me well next winter on WSPR on several HF bands.

Verticals tend to be noisier than horizontal antennas. This is a Rybakov antenna fed via a transformer so they can be matched with an ATU more easily. If erected it would replace my horizontal antenna that only covers 3 HF bands.

This is now on my main website at www.g3xbm.co.uk . This was a "cut and paste" job ànd needs attention on the other PC in the morning as I see some words are not visible.

See reviews at https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/8727?page=1

ARRL contest and re-erecting my X80 vertical

SRC X80 multi-band vertical

This next weekend is, I believe, the big ARRL DX contest and, if 10m is open, a good chance to work some transatlantic DX on this and other higher HF bands. I propose to re-erect my X80 vertical multi-band antenna in time for this contest and see what I can work with QRP. Also, another local, Ted G4NUA,  is keen to get back on 10FM, so a vertical may be better for local 10FM operation. 10m FM was good fun some years ago but activity very low these days, at least around here.

WSPR with the X80 and 5W

Well, here is a summary of my (intermittent) QRP WSPR beaconing tests since I erected my X80 vertical at lunchtime today:

• Bands tried 80, 40, 30, 20, 17 and 10m (reports received on all bands tried)
• Reports from 25 different stations in 14 countries and 3 continents
• Best DX 6105km on 17m

So, a reasonable test for the antenna and I believe it is working out pretty well so far.

SRC X80 multi-band vertical erected

My SRC X80 multi-band vertical was erected without problems this morning. Fed via about 10m of coax through the house and matched to my FT817 via the Elecraft T1 auto-ATU, it managed a decent match on all bands from 80-10m. Within 2 minutes of tuning it up I'd had two QSOs with 5W QRP CW: HA3FTA on 10m (599) and LA5CB (559) on 12m. So, promising results so far. The next test will be to try WSPR beaconing on the various bands as this is a good check of general performance.

UPDATE 1hr later: Tried WSPR at 5W on 28, 14, 10 and 7MHz and have had decent reports from around Europe on all these bands. I've just got a WSPR report from W8LIW on 18MHz at 6105km. So, it's doing a credible job.

See my webpage about the antenna: http://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp/Home/x80ant

SRC X80 antenna has arrived

Well, I'm very impressed with how quickly Snowdonia Radio Company despatched my X80 multi-band Rybakov HF vertical: it arrived on my doorstep early this morning only a few days after ordering it. I shall not be able to erect it until next week though as my little grandson is staying with us until Monday. All being well, I'll erect it on Tuesday.