20 Meter EndFedz Works Great

I did some more experimenting with my EndFedz.  I finally got the standoff at the top of my tower, so I fastened it to the rope and pulled it up to the pulley.  At about 32 feet high and sloping to about 15 feet, I made some successful QSOs from Mexico City to California, to Maine and to Europe.  I checked in on the Maritime, SATERN and Intercon nets.

Regarding SWR, I haven't used an analyzer yet, but I measured it, used it with a tuner for a while just in case the SWR was a bit high (no, a tuner won't hurt it; you don't need one).  After a while, I shortened it by an inch or so, and my FT-450 meter only shows one bar when I key and talk.

To test it further, I started at the top of the band, and went all the way through the data section with the tuner.  It tuned it without any problems, so I know it was under a 3:1 SWR.  With a stated SWR of 1.5:1 for 300 kHz, that goes to within 50 kHz of the bottom of the 20 meter band.  It seems logical that it will perform sufficiently to the bottom edge, given that small amount of difference.

At QRP, the Maritime Net gave me a a copy, but the band static and other stations made it difficult to copy all of my call sign.  Cranking it up to 100 watts solved that problem.

I plan on trying it out in the different configurations, such as an L, horizontal, and vertical as soon as I  can.  I suspect using it as an L would give it more of a directional approach, but don't quote me on that...  I'd also like to see how much adjusting the takeoff angle actually affects it, as well as height above ground.  The direction it is pointed as a sloper does seem to affect the direction somewhat.    I'll update the blog as I get more results to share.