# 31 - 13-Band MF HF ANTENNA
I received a new antenna that I wanted to check out. The Fat Spectrum antenna claims to be ale to provide coverage on 160m, 80m, 75m, 60m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 11m, 10m, and 6 meter continuously with no frequency gaps through entire range, all without the need for an antenna tuner. This is an amazing claim, and one that I want to put to the test.
The antenna came in today and only took me about 10 minutes to put together and install. Since I live in a Home Owner's Association I am not allowed to have an outdoor antenna. Oh well.
I had a flagpole mounted in the yard at the side of my house until it was damaged a couple years ago when we had a sudden storm blow through the islands with over 60 MPH sustained winds and several gusts much higher.
The bottom section of flagpole is still cemented into the ground not being used, so I decided to mount this antenna to that. That puts the bottom of the antenna about 3 feet off of the ground. About the same height it would be at if I were using a tripod in an emergency communications situation. The antenna description says that it "can be mounted on the ground, chimney, Tripod or tower".
The antenna stands about 20 feet tall with no horizontal elements on it. So, from a distance, it kind of looks like the flagpole that used to be in that spot. Maybe the HOA inspectors that drive around the neighborhood won't even notice it.
Over the next few days I will be getting my new HF Multi-Band Multi-Mode radio set up and start testing out this new antenna. If everything works out, this will be my base station HF antenna here at my house. I have another more portable multi-band antenna coming in next week that will be used for portable emcomms work.
I will update you with the results of my antenna tests.
73
RC
WH6FQE
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In upcoming episodes we will take a look at Morse Code, Antennas, Handheld UHF/VHF Radios, Mobile UHF/VHF Radios and Emergency Communication (Emcomms).
