Setting up portable gear in public green spaces requires a balance between low-profile antenna deployment and effective radiation angles. Yesterday morning, I packed a lightweight QRP transceiver and a 40-meter end-fed random wire into Swope Park for a quick weekend operating session. The goal was simple: test a newly wound 9:1 unun while logging contacts across the Midwest airwaves.
Deploying the Wire in the Timber
Using an arborist throw line, I launched a weighted line over an oak branch roughly thirty feet overhead. The wire slung up easily, giving enough vertical clearance to keep the far end off the ground while keeping the matching unit near bench height. Tuning with an inline SWR meter showed a clean match on 20 meters without needing an external tuner unit.
Signal Reports and Log Breakdown
With five watts of output power, the first contact came from an operator in rural Iowa operating a homebrew Yagi antenna. Signals were crisp at 59 both ways despite moderate solar noise floor conditions. Over two hours, twelve contacts went into the logbook before rain clouds rolled in from the west. 73 until the next field deployment.