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Thanks - I think that Rick ZL3RIK is an institution! He’s great and always gives great encouragement.

I can imagine that the dipole configuration would work better for me here. Have you ever run a comparison in terms of trying to establish the radiation pattern differences between the vertical and the dipole configuration? That would be something interesting to try and establish.

Thanks! They are a pretty impressive tree - I imagine that the ones in America are even more so!

Well anything is better than nothing so hopefully over time you can get a better idea on what you want to do and what equipment you might want to invest in. There is certainly plenty of options so we are definitely spoiled for choice. Good luck on your journey!

Well I hope you have a great time. Are you taking your radio with you?

@@zl2neb yep ic-705 may do a Pota :)

Yes it was a good weekend. I’m not sure that everyone was quite so keen on me spending time on the activations but it did at least give them the opportunity to visit the shops without me being there lol.

That’s a pretty good effort. Have you used it much on 40m at all? The G90 band sweep is very useful although I’ve been taking the VNA with me for the tuning as it doesn’t take up that much room.

Yes you definitely can do a double activation (which is actually what I did the following day). I was quite unsure what might be possible in Queenstown with limited gear but this one at least worked out ok. It would be interesting to see if there is a location which allows you to do a park, summit and lake at the same time. I’ve found a local one that allows you to do a park and 3 beacons I think so I’m planning on doing that sometime soon.

Yes it certainly wasn’t the warmest. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been there and it was interesting to see what has changed and what has remained the same.

Nick when you home

I’m at the Tour of Southland at the moment so I’ll be heading back on the 10th Nov. My next activation is likely to be the 16th or 17th Nov.

looking at buying a unit same as you have want to know more about them see yoou when you get back Cheers Barry

Sure - no problem. Give me a call next week and we can sort something out.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I’ll check out your videos. I’ve just recently received a JPC 12 (last week). It’s quite a bit taller than the Super Antenna so I’m keen to see if there is really any difference between them. The JPC 12 certainly seems to be very good value for money and is a handy portable size. For me it will come down to how useful it is on 40m. I’ve already added some longer radials but will check out your other suggestions. Thanks, Nick

It’s a great location but it certainly wasn’t the largest number of contacts that we’ve made. It seemed to be a bit of a struggle this time. We were using a different setup from normal so it wasn’t a complete surprise that we had a different outcome from what we were used to. Maybe we might manage to make a contact next time. 73’s

Thanks Mark, It’s not my antenna so possibly I didn’t get all of the components when I borrowed it. I did use a telescopic whip which was included in the test. I don’t seem to have the titanium whip part with this kit. I’ll check with the owner though. 73’s

Thanks for the comments Robert. Yes at this stage I completely agree with you. The only thing that it really has in its favour is the easy of carrying it. Of course I am trying to use it on 40m which is at the complete limit of what it’s capable of. Probably if I tried to use it on 20 or 15 I would get a better result but if I do that then I effectively skip all NZ chasers which really gives me a completely different set of problems. Personally I’ve found an inverted V of some sort of end-fed antenna to be the best option but I probably shouldn’t completely discount it yet. 73’s Nick

I look forward to it.

@@zl2neb zl3bp howick rd

Thanks for the suggestions Mike. The bag as a weight is a good idea. 20m is less popular here in NZ. Most activations are on 40m which means that we can be chased by NZ operators. If we move to 20m then really that makes us dependant on being chased by Australian operators who are the closest that are likely to hear us and with the time zone differences that can bring a different set of challenges (lol). 10m is an option with Australia though. I’ll work with it a bit more before making a decision on how viable an option it is. 73’s. Nick

Well I guess it’s better than nothing.

Well you can of course skip ahead to that part.

Did you use the radials that came with the antenna or did you make a different set?

In this case - my own 5 meter radials - but not important as radials on the ground does not have to be resonant - just enough of them. Which is ONE if floating in salt water, 4-8 on good ground - and perhaps 64 on bad 😳

Hi David, thanks for the question. For POTA and SOTA I’m using SSB - mainly on 40m. There are a few reasons for that. Primarily in NZ the POTA and SOTA operators are using SSB (CW as you can imagine is a small subset of operators out of an already small group of total licensed amateurs). And as I’m mainly using 40m due to my primary times of operation then that has so far been the best option for me. You are right in that the random wire end fed would work fine with CW which would absolutely be an option if I was a more capable CW operator (lol). I certainly encourage you to go out and try an activation. NZ is pretty packed with parks that can be activated and you have a very capable rig to use with the G90 which is almost built exactly for this sort of thing. Sign up for the ontheair.nz website to get the activation alerts and have a listen one day. A lot of activations are in the mornings in the weekend usually around 7.085 and 7.090. I’m away working for most of November so you probably won’t hear me again on the air until December but if you do then give me a call! 73’s Nick

Thanks for the insight - I’ll spend a bit more time trying this one out before I have to return it to its owner. Certainly the assembly is easy but the tuning as you identify can be a bit more involved. A mast and a wire with an appropriate transformer and tuner is certainly a bit more versatile and much quicker if you are changing frequencies regularly.

Thanks for the detail on how you are using it. I’ve heard about faraday cloth but haven’t used it. Do you find it significantly better than a normal radial wire option? While the Super Antenna is relatively quick to setup the length of useful radials for 40m does expand its physical footprint quite significantly. I was wondering what size faraday cloth you would need to use for a 40m deployment?

The faraday cloth that I have is approx 1.1m x 2m. I’m not going to say that it is better than wire radials, but it takes up a lot less space and I haven’t noticed any degradation in performance, especially on 20m and higher frequencies. I did notice that the usable SWR bandwidth on 30m and 40m is narrower but not enough narrower to be a concern. We are full time RVers and I operate portable 100% and when we are in some campgrounds there isn’t a lot of room for wire radials so having the faraday cloth allows me to get on the air in places that I may not be able to otherwise.

I really like that comment - it’s completely true but so much marketing wants to convince us otherwise!

@@zl2neb I think like most Hams, I have a room full of antennas that make claims that could not possibly be true, but like Tinkerbell and Fox Mulder, I want to believe!

Thanks for your comments Steve. I was surprised just how small the super antenna is. It isn't mine and for some reason I thought that it looked bigger on the website (lol). I suppose that its main competitor is the JPC-12 which is almost twice the height. It's definitely an easy antenna to setup and I can certainly see the attraction of being able to deploy it almost anywhere like the example of the parking lot that you have tried. Do you use something like an analyser or VNA to tune it when you use it? One thing I'm unsure about is how effective the vertical will be in the field here. We have a very small number of operators in NZ and our country is long and skinny so you have to be able to reach them in a sort of north/south direction. To our left is Australia and to our right is South America and I'm unsure about the ability to reach them using this sort of antenna on SSB. I've got the loan of it for a little longer so I'll try it in the field and see how I get on. 73's ZL2NEB

@@zl2neb Hi Nick, I usually just use the plastic guide, and then the swr meter on the 818. Have fun playing with these things! 73 KB3JC

Thanks for the comment. I'm not familiar with the Wolf River coil although I have heard the name before. I'm guessing that you mainly use the linked dipole for parks with a telescopic mast? Generally I've gone for some sort of end-fed as for me they have been easier to setup at a site than a dipole. As you know - the NZ "parks" come in all shapes and sizes and the environment can bring some additional challenges. Summits are even more of a lottery!

Thanks for the offer Phil. I think that you are correct about something like the 6m mast being the better option. I think that would be a more versatile way to go. Especially if I continue using something like a random wire or EFHW. Plus the tuner in the G90 or the one that I have with the 705 makes things a lot easier. I think that the band agility of a wire antenna is preferable to these loaded verticals plus once you deploy sensible radials for the band that you are working on you actually end up needing quite a bit of space.

Thanks Ian. It seems like a reasonable way to do a comparison but really I should probably have run it for a couple of weeks to get a better idea on how they actually compare. Still it's quite a good way to get a consistent output and those zachtek transmitters are nicely self contained once you set them up.

Good question - it depends. Certainly for these earlier activations I was running the antenna wire up the mast - really just spiralling it around the mast as I put it up. I think that in this video I'm probably using around 10.5m up the mast and a 10m counterpoise. The mast is around 10m in height so it's not a bad option. At the moment I'm mainly using the random wire in an inverted V or L configuration. I think that if I was visiting this site again one of these configurations is probably what I'd use. They certainly seems to have been working fairly well but there are times when I still use the wire up the mast - mainly when I'm short on space because of the operating environment or if its very windy - its a little easier to not have quite so much wire blowing around or if I'm in a bush environment and it would be difficult to not end up with a tangled mess. I have some examples of all of these scenarios in some of the later videos.

I still think that the G90 is pretty good value for money. It's also a good size physically, has reasonable power, a good tuner and has so far been pretty robust. I do have other options which you see me use from time to time on other activations but for the most part I find myself mainly using the G90. Possibly if I was doing more CW I would feel differently about it but for SSB it's been great.

Thanks Nigel - it was certainly an improvement over the last one. I hope to catch you again soon as well.

Yeah I think that we avoided the curse of the hoary-headed grebe this time! I'm not sure about shipwrecks on the air. I have worked people in the UK doing bunkers on the air. I'm surprised that we haven't had something like churches on the air or ANZAC monuments on the air yet.

Thanks very much. I had wondered initially if I had an equipment problem after the last activation attempt so I was a little relieved that this next one went ok.

Thanks Tony, I'm pleased that you enjoyed it. I think that the videos are slowly getting better in general although obviously some locations are certainly more interesting than others. At the very least they should be useful for anyone else who ever wants to visit these locations.

No @MrMesopheric it was a complete mystery to me. The location is relatively remote, there are no buildings or even significant powerlines around the area. I wondered if there might be some solar powered monitoring equipment somewhere but I couldn't see anything. There wasn't even any camper vans which can often be a source of interference with their solar regulators etc. I'm going to have to revisit the site another time and see if the interference is still there. You are right about the coast being better than lakes for DX although this one is also relatively close to the coast.

I'm guessing that if I had taken the T41 then things would have worked out better Nev? Time to reconsider my life choices?

Thankfully there were neither at this location! I'm not so sure that I'd be trying to activate as much as I do if there were!

Thanks Nigel - yeah I'm going to have to revisit this one. I like showing my activation failures as well - not everything works out as you might hope!

Thanks - It often gets pretty windy here in Spring so it's best to do any activations in the morning before the wind gets up. Thankfully daylight saving is going to help with that.

Do you mean the yellow circular lookout where I first stopped or the ones at the summit? At the summit there is just a trig and a map. Yeah I probably should have mentioned those - sorry.

Thanks Phil, Carrying the larger mast isn't too much of a problem but your description of erecting the Carbon 6 is pretty attractive. I'm thinking about getting one of their Tactical masts - maybe the heavy duty 7m one? They aren't badly priced and the technique I have now for setting them up is relatively quick (not as fast as you though). I'm only using lightweight wire and generally always some sort of endfed - dipoles seem like a bit too much extra work for me! Cheers, Nick

@@zl2neb Hold that thought Nick. All with good luck and a fair wind I have intentions of doing an article today comparing my 2 SOTABeam poles...the Tactical Mini and the newly acquired Carbon 6. When done I shall post you a link. Cheers Phil

I've always been interested in seeing a SpiderBeam mast. They have some nice looking gear. Neither the Haverford or the Maintrac are very light. The Maintrac is certainly easier to get in NZ and does seem to be a more robust construction. I am considering looking at one of the shorter SotaBeams masts which aren't too badly priced and pack down a bit better.

Thanks for the question about the theme music. It's a recording from a band that I played for in the late 90's. It had a variety of names during my time with them - the one that it was best known as was "This Life" which no-one in the band was ever happy with (lol). It only did original music and the guitarist (Phil Brass) was from Dunedin and was really responsible for total sound. Cape Campbell is a great location and well worth the trip if you ever get the opportunity.

Thanks for the background info Nick.. love the track, Flying Nun should’ve picked you guys up back then 😉 Cheers!

Most enjoyable Nick. Cheers 73. ZL3GIG

Thanks - it's a really nice part of the country. Certainly worth a visit if you ever get the chance!

Yes it was a bit of a mixed weekend with not many lighthouse stations on the air that we heard anyway. We did hear a German station but were unable to contact them. It was a good weekend anyway and nice to operate from somewhere different.

Thanks for the greetings from Germany!

Thanks, despite us all trying to achieve the same thing, it's interesting the different ways that we go about it. I know that my setup is completely different from ZL3RIK and ZL1GA.

Yeah it's always interesting to have a look in the bag again after a couple of months. I usually find something that I've forgotten about!

Thanks for the feedback. It's a nice location and that was a pretty good day to be there.

Thanks for the encouragement Nigel. My aim is to try and show that it's not that hard to get out and do an activation but I'm also keen to not make it seem always perfect!