The ATU talk makes me cringe as well, but because it can do the opposite of protecting your radio.? When it's looking for the lowest possible match, it will explore some regions of potentially high SWR.? That can blow your finals unless you somehow reduce power.? And I rather like twiddling knobs, guess it makes me feel like I'm in control and gives me an opportunity to learn about my antenna.? When I want convenience I reach for a cellphone.
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I'd argue that an end fed half wave is ideal for portable use.? Radiates as good as a dipole but resonant on twice as many frequencies, gets fed from one end which might be conveniently near your tent or picnic table.? No fancy tuner needed just a suitable matchbox, some EFHW designs can hit? 80, 40, 20, and 10m without adjusting anything.? That said, experimenting with better antennas is to be encouraged.? The radiation pattern from an EFHW is pretty much pot luck on all but the fundamental.
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Jerry, KE7ER
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On Mon, Jan 13, 2025 at 06:02 PM, Scott VY1CO wrote:
All of this talk now about cramming an antenna tuner into a qrp rig makes me cringe...it does nothing for you but protect your radio unless you step out of the box and begin to understand how running non-resonant antennas--be they loops or, ideal for QRP, balanced line? fed doublets. I fear we have started to raise a generation of end fed antenna users, but I will save that for another diatribe.
