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For those of you with multiple wire antennas, especially for field activations, how do you keep them organized at home?

4X5WA wrote: ↑Thu May 30, 2024 9:40 am For those of you with multiple wire antennas, especially for field activations, how do you keep them organized at home?

I use mostly wire antennas for activating in the field: multiple EFRWs, multiple EFHWs, and a dipole. I keep each antenna wrapped on its own winder. Most of them are then contained in one of my field kits. Each field kit is based on a different QRP radio, and contains the supporting equipment needed for grab-and-go operation.

Best 73 de Brian - K3ES

My wire antennas are stored on winders inside small canvas pouches with a label attached. All the pouches are stored inside a large plastic weatherproof box that I throw in the bed of my truck when going on an activation. Frequently used antennas go inside my backpack. I also have an "emergency pack" inside my truck with a backup dipole, power cable, coax etc.

I devised a winder frim an old gift card that lets me lock the wire at any length. I put knots at the resonant points of the wire so I can work any band.
The points allow the wire to spin off very quickly. The "ears" and notches catch the half- hitch knot I lock the wire with.

Rick: those gift cards are brilliantly cut!

Please forgive my ignorance: I understand keeping some windings on the card depending on the resonance you want for the antenna. But how do you make the connection to the radio? I'd be leary of hosting the winding card with the extra wire up into a tree lest it be more likely to catch on a branch. But I don't see a connector or even a long lead for connection in your example photos.

To OP: my current favorite method for storing wire antennas is by using DG1JAN/xOTA PCB's. I love the built-in balun and connector: it makes it fast to deploy and wind back up, and very neat and self-contained. For what it's worth, I built these with a loading coil according to step 10 in K6ARK's instructions to make my EFHW multi-band. Currently I keep my wound-up antennas in a banker's deposit bag: nice & flat, padded, zip shut.

73 de W2TEF Todd

Thanks for the replies. For now I have a few wires on K6ARK's winders. Rick's system looks very convenient. I'll have to give that a try

Todd

The winder is always at the far end of the antenna.

Most of the time, I use a telescoping pole. For the times I'm forced to use a tree, I just throw the near end of the wire over from the opposite side of the branch. I really hate using trees in public parks.

My wires are light enough to use cotton kite string to pull them up or tie off the far end, using the winder as an insulator. That way it will easily break if caught in a tree. It will also decompose much faster than man made fibers would.

The 64:1 transformer is mounted on a board along with the radio. Everything but the antenna wire always stays connected. It's easier on the connectirs, and I can't lose or forget anything.

Thanks, Rick. That's a clean, well-designed operating kit! Lots of good ideas in there.

Does wrapping extra antenna wire at the far vs near end make a difference in the performance?

It shouldn't matter, as long as the connection to the tuner or radio is made with the winding not between the wire and radio. That means having uninsulated wire if the winding is at the near end. Having the winding at the far end will have little or no effect.