PAFF-0079 on the high bands

Acceptable weather for a change motivated me to go out to activate PAFF-0079. This reference had had some attention in the past (>500 QSOs) but most of it years ago. Expecting some Es conditions I brought my hexbeam and my 2-4-6m yagi.

Hexbeam and 2-4-6m yagi

It was rather busy in the area with people happy to be able to go out for a walk. It was difficult unfolding the hexbeam without getting in people's way. Ofcourse I got a lot of questions about this rotary clothesline..

The rotary clothesline

I started out on 6m but that band was not really alive. I only worked one EI station. So much for the effort to bring and setup the yagi.

I went over to the hexbeam starting on 15m as that band sounded quite active.. and it was. I logged more than 70 contacts on that band. Most of those were in the UK - there seemed to be a nice cloud over the North Sea. I was also greeted by Len VE9MY and Linda VE9GLF (P2P) and 5 US stations including the usual suspects Tom KG8P and Robert KD1CT.

After about 1.5h I went down to 17m again logging mostly UK stations and VE5. 17m was not too busy so after 30 minutes I went down one more time to 20m. 20m was in an okay state. It was never very busy but I did log almost 150 contacts in 2h. At the start I had the beam pointing towards NA - logging KA8H and W1OW - but I noticed spots to the east so I turned the beam. That probably helped me log 3 JA stations.

A cloudy but dry day out in PAFF-0079

I had skipped the 10m band earlier thinking the Es was not strong enough but I still saw spots on that band (past 20h local time) so I decided to go back up hoping for an opening to SA. With the beam in that direction I logged PU and some 20 more contacts in EU - mostly from south DL to I. 

It was getting late but there was one band to my immediate disposal I had not visited yet: 12m. The first response came from Max IK1GPG, who I just spoke to on 10m. In these last few minutes I logged a few more EU stations and FY to my surprise. 

It was so much fun on the higher bands that I never came around to breaking down the hex and going for the low bands. Normally I make most of my QSOs on those bands. However with a bit more time spent than usual (5h) I still managed to log 286 QSOs from 45 DXCC with 12 P2P.

Projects - 4m slim jim antenna

As I wrote before I now have a working 4m set-up using the 4m transverter kit from DF2FQ (XV4-40). I also have a compact 2/4/6 meter beam that I will describe in more detail in a future post.

Although the beam is compact, I cannot use it at home as it is too large. How can that be? Well, I don't have a fixed mast - all my antennas start from my attic. I use a 20 meters long sloping end fed wire from my attic into the garden in an L shape for 80m-10m (resonant on 40/20/10m - works OK for 40-30-20). For 6m I use a vertical end fed wire that I put on a fiberglass pole in the attic and then push up through an attic window (I sometimes use this construction for lower bands as well). For 2m I have a compact 4 element beam that I can just push through the same attic window. I attach that one to an aluminium push up mast.

The 2/4/6m beam is just too large to fit through the attic window. So for working Es - one of my favourite sub hobbies - I needed a solution for 4m (having 6m and 2m covered). With Es you can get good results even with a "simple" vertical - as I have already experienced using my end fed wire for 6m. So, it was time to create a 4m vertical. Using a bit of ladder line PG8M had lying around and a nice online calculator by M0UKD (with construction tips), I created a slim jim for 4m.

Ladder line as the basis for the Slim Jim antenna

The online calculator and all the other info on John's page give you a good starting point but then you are tasked with finding the exact feed point position. As John M0UKD notes, it is important to perform the final tuning in a set-up that resembles your target situation. I stuck the ladder line to my fiberglass pole in the garden and pushed that up a couple of meters to make sure the antenna was away from obstacles (as I will be using it when I push it out from my attic). I tried different feed point positions, each time making measurements with my VNA.

Locating the feed point

Finding the feed point position is a trial and error process. This is slightly complicated by the wires being insulated. I didn't like the idea of having to remove the insulation on a large stretch to find the right spot, so I used the set-up in the picture above: two needles connected to my VNA. That way I could try different points and check the effect on the antenna SWR curve.

Finally I added a W2DU style current choke on approx 1m of coax (soldered to the feed point) that conveniently terminates with a SO-239 connector: ready to go.

The end result gives me an antenna with an SWR of 1:1.6 on 70.200. I might improve that a bit more by tweaking the stub length in the future but as it is I am pleased to know I am ready for next year's Es season.

Playing with 6m Es - compact beam versus vertical

Some time ago I built a compact beam for 6/4/2m aimed at /P operations. It is a design by DK7ZB featuring 3 elements on 2m, 2 elements on 4m and 2 elements on 6m. I tested it when I finished building it and SWR was good on all bands.

I followed the design of DK7ZB (link) with a few changes to make this a /P antenna:

• I use wing nuts on the 4m elements and the 6m reflector to be able to remove them easily for transport
• I split the 6m driven dipole in a short center piece connected to the boom and removable parts on both ends of the dipole
• I added spacers for the dipoles to keep them at the right distance from each other (refer to picture below)

Spacer for the dipole elements

Apart from a short appearance in LX (2 QSOs), I had not used the beam on the air. For 6m I use an end fed half wave vertically - both when I am /P as well as at home.
It is amazing how effective a vertical wire is in Es conditions. I have worked stations all over Europe with that antenna using 100w. I was curious how the beam would perform in comparison.

We are in the Es season at the moment and there was a 6m contest on last weekend. So I decided to go out /P and test the beam properly against the end fed wire. I used one of my Spiderbeam poles with the end fed wire in the top (feedpoint about 12m high) and the beam a bit lower at about 8m high.


I used an antenna switch to be able to quickly switch between the two antennas. You need quick switching as the signals themselves vary constantly under Es conditions. The difference was significant most of the time. Of course the heading of the beam is a factor that influences the difference. With the beam heading the right way, the signal strength on rx differed multiple s-points. On the low end this meant there were stations I could only copy on the beam. I recorded a view video's while switching between the antennas. One of them is on YouTube:

With PG8M - who lives just under 30km from where I was /P - I tested the characteristics of the beam via ground wave. We found a difference of 2 s-points front to back and 5 s-points front to side.

All in all this shows me that this beam is definitely an interesting antenna to use in the field for 6m. It is light, easy to set up and relatively easy to transport. As the 6m reflector is rather long for easy transportation I am thinking of splitting the reflector in two or three parts.

While I was testing this setup I logged 25 stations, collecting 10 new grid squares on the go.