Ok, so yesterday I decided to tackle Field Day again. I had the data cable problem resolved and figured I'd try the antenna test I'd planned for Saturday. First up was the Blue Star P1. I tuned up for 40M and spun the dial several times to no avail. The antenna was about 8' off the ground but this means it was still being blocked by the house to a good extent I'm sure. I retuned for 20M and got busy. I actually managed to make about 5 contacts. It was hard work, though. I should've had at least one more contact but we lost each other. I could him him calling for me but I was gone I guess.
After a bit of success with the P1 I switched over to the Buddistick. I was feeling lazy and wanted to be able to swap antennas so this wasn't really an apples to apples comparison. I put the Buddistick on the handle of my grill so it was much lower than the P1. I could hear stations but I didn't log a single contact on either band.
The jury is still out on which antenna is the better performer. The advantage of the P1 over the Buddistick is that it's got a coil for 60 and 80. However, my SWR on 80 yesterday was >25 no matter what I did. I'm going to drop them an email to see if they have any ideas. If I can't do 80M (this is pretty big for me since that's where our FL Phone Net is) I'll have to come up with another solution.
I hope to do a better test later this week as we head out camping again.
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