So far, I've used an end-fed half-wave for POTA activations.? It's easy to put up and requires no action for band changes.? I have a hitch-mounted mast for one end and put a small wire stake in the ground for the other.? Sometimes I tied the other end to a fence or tree.? But after the recent discussion of POTA activators tangling with park rangers over ropes in trees and stakes in the ground, I decided to try an antenna that was self-supporting.
After some research, I decided to try the Wolf River Coils .? I bought the Mega Mini version with the Silver Bullet Mini coil, the 213" telescoping whip, and the bigger tripod.? My first impression on unboxing was that this thing is built like a tank.? I have no worries about damaging it during setup or teardown.? The tuning collar took a little getting used to, but now I find I can move it with some precision and it stays where you set it.
It is quite easy to tune using my RigExpert Stick Pro analyzer, which has a handy "Single" feature that continuously displays the SWR on a frequency of your choice.? You set it for 14074 kHz, for example, then tinker with the antenna coil tuning collar until you are satisfied.? I found it easy to get under 2:1, and other people claim 1.4:1 with some trial and error.? All-in-all, it is pretty easy to set up and tune, 5-10 minutes to on-the-air.? Teardown is quicker, of course.
As for performance, after a half-dozen outings I would say it works pretty well, but not as well as the EFHW.? My instinct is that people aren't hearing me as well with the vertical, which is no surprise.? Base-loaded verticals are inefficient, so you're definitely trading off effectiveness to get the other qualities you want.? I'm looking forward to the opportunity to do an A/B test and get some real data from PSKREPORTER about how well the Wolf River is working.
Bottom line, I'm happy I bought it.? It addressed the need for easy setup with no ropes or stakes, and it works well enough on the air.? I don't think a contester would be happy, but for POTA it is good enough.? I'm a big believer in good enough!
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73, Mike KQ9P
Mike KQ9P