My Current POTA Antenna Setup

This article appeared first in the June 2021 issue of the RaRa Rag newsletter.

One of the questions I get asked frequently is about antennas for POTA (Parks on the Air) operations. The following is an overview of what I currently use for my POTA activations, and is therefore based on first-hand experience. As always, any antenna is a compromise, and it’s up to you to decide how much money and work you want to put into an antenna and how efficient the antenna needs to be.

Currently my favorite antenna is a 31ft Jackite telescopic fiberglass pole that I use with a drive-on mount. The Jackite poles are designed to fly bird kites, and you can see examples on their web site, but they work very well for ham radio purposes as well. I run about 30ft of wire up the pole and use that with a 9:1 unun and a 1:1 common mode choke, followed by RG-8X to the antenna tuner. I connect three 33ft radials to the 9:1 balun that I spread out as evenly as possible. This setup requires an antenna tuner. I use the LDG Z-100Plus automatic antenna tuner, that make it very easy to tune the antenna and does not require power when it’s not actively tuning, which is a plus for operating from a battery. The balun and choke are also from LDG:

• Tuner: http://ldgelectronics.com/index.php/products/zero-power/z-100-plus/
• Unun and choke: https://ldgelectronics.com/index.php/products/accessories/baluns/
• Here is information about the Jackite pole: https://www.jackite.com/online-store/31-ft-Thick-Tip-Orange-Fiberglass-Windsock-Pole-p78587347

This is the type of drive on mount that I use (eBay auctions are short lived, so you may just have to search for a similar item): https://www.ebay.com/itm/380818607825 – the diameter does not match the pole, so I use a piece of PVC pipe as “adapter”. The key here is to search for a “tire mount flag pole holder”, and not an antenna mast support – these are way more expensive than flag pole holders.

The disadvantage of this antenna is that it needs the ATU and a car to hold up the mast. Here is a picture of the collapsed mast, the drive on mount and the PVC pipe to make things fit:

The other antenna type that I use on the car is a hamstick – I have a few, but the two main ones are for 40m and 20m. I use them with a three magnet mag mount on the roof of my car with the 1:1 common mode choke from above and two 33ft radials (the same radials that I also use for the vertical above and the Wolf River Coil below). This is a very inefficient antenna, but when it’s raining cats and dogs, it’s a lot easier to set up than any of the other antennas, and for a “RaDAR” activation (which stands for “Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio”), I just drive a short distance with the hamstick on the car, and all I need to do is attach the radials when at the new location.

This is the type of mag mount I use – it allows me to clip on my radials: https://amzn.to/3gUGyUw – It’s sturdy enough that you can drive with the antenna on the mount (I don’t do this for more than just a few miles – e.g. from one state forest to another state forest).

My #3 antenna that I use for POTA when I operate away from the car is the Wolf River Coil (WRC) – specifically the Silver Bullet 1000 – with a 17ft whip, and three to six 33ft radials.

I’ve modified my radials so that I can clip them on the legs of the WRC, or on the binding post of the unun:

The biggest advantage of the WRC is that it is self-supporting and does not need a car or a tree to hold it up. Just like with the other two antennas I described, I use a 1:1 choke with this antenna as well.

When I go to activate more than just a few miles from my house, I travel with all these antennas (and usually also a second radio), just in case. Things tend to go wrong at the most inconvenient time. I also have a few other wire antennas in my “activation crate”, and another (shorter) fiberglass pole in my car. When it comes to activations, belt and suspenders, and a long piece of para cord just in case is the way to go.

de K5KHK