I enjoy Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio, Field Days, QRP, satellites, and CW. I have many friends in the hobby that make it fun. I will keep you posted on what I learn about amateur radio on this blog.
I had fun this morning doing a Park On The Activation from my favorite spot at St. Andrews State Park near Panama City, Florida. There happens to be a picnic table right next to Grand Lagoon. That spot views the rest of North America over the saltwater. I believe saltwater enhances low-angle radiation for vertically polarized waves. My rig was the Icom 705 at ten watts into the AlexLoop magnetic loop.
The Alexloop magnetic loop was about twelve feet from the water.
The results speak pretty well for this effect. I had 56 contacts, 48 on 20 meters, 6 on 17 meters, and 2 on 40 meters. To the west was NU7J in Washington State, to the south was ZF5T in the Grand Cayman Islands, and to the north was Chris VA3ECO in Ontario. The furthest contact on 40 meters was AA5UZ in Louisiana on CW. This was the best activation I have had with the Alexloop.
I used the Icom IC-705 at ten watts powered by a Bioenno 3AH battery.
