Do you need the tiny island country of St. Kitts? My XYL & I will be there!

[KB1EHE]

Hi Rob.

Thank you for the offer for the Alpha 6-160 end fed (J-Pole). Greatly appreciated.

I have the identical antenna, and have been anxious to try it. Last weekend, in my portable gear test, I put it head-to-head with the 20m dipole and the 53-ft. end-fed with the 9:1 UNUN. I used a coax switch to be able to do instantaneous comparisons. It tuned up fine, but on receive it was significantly down compared to the other two.

I've heard superb things about the Alpha 6-160 end fed, particularly on eHam.net: www.eham.net/reviews/detail/9968. Hence why I purchased it. My guess is that it is a little more finicky with its installation. I purposely used well-less-than-ideal temporary installations for all three antennas, to try to simulate my TBD St. Kitts installation. The dipole was draped over the wood railing on my back deck, so only about 15 feet high (with the ends almost touching the ground). And the 53-ft. end feed started at 15 feet high and sloped down to about 5 feet (tied to a tree). For the Alpha, I had the transformer end about 20 feet high and the low end sloping towards the ground, with the end about 5 feet off the ground.

Thanks again, Rob, for the offer. I look forward to a QSO with you, too!

73,
Eric KB1EHE