There are two ways to test an antenna. Run it at the peak of the solar cycle when everything works, or run it at the bottom — when conditions are genuinely bad and the antenna has to earn every contact. This trip was the second kind.

KQ7W is a callsign with a rare W7 prefix held by a friend. Jon borrowed it for a weekend operation from a beachfront QTH on Puget Sound, near Seattle. The antenna was the 20’ DX Vertical, transported in a ski bag that fits in a car trunk. Setup time: minutes. The bands were not cooperative. What happened anyway is the story.

What the Beach Adds — and What It Doesn’t Have To

Salt water is a near-perfect ground screen, and every vertical near it benefits: the reflection it provides strengthens the low-angle signal that works DX. A Greyline gets that bonus too — which is part of why this beach QTH played so well.

What the VDA doesn’t need is a radial field. The feedpoint is up on the pole and the lower half of the dipole carries the return current, so there is no buried wire to lay and no radial loss in series with the feed. Put the same antenna on rock, desert sand, or a concrete park pad and it works the same way — the ground still shapes the far-field pattern, as it does for every vertical, but nothing about setup changes. That’s what makes it a true portable system rather than a beach-only curiosity.

RBN: Heard Worldwide at 50 Watts

The Reverse Beacon Network screenshot below is from this operation. Solar cycle trough. 50 watts. 20’ VDA. The spots speak for themselves.

RBN reception report — KQ7W · 50W · 20’ DX Vertical · Puget Sound, W7 · Solar cycle trough.

Live Audio — On the Air from the Beach House

These recordings capture actual operating from this QTH. Listen for the background DX — at 50W during a solar trough, there’s more happening than you’d expect. The late-evening 20–40M opening is worth a listen.

The Ski Bag System — Car Trunk to QRV in Minutes

The whole 20’ antenna travels in 4-foot sections in a ski bag and fits in a car trunk or truck bed. No special vehicle. No trailer. No advance planning beyond picking a destination. Arrive, assemble, operate.

Weight: about 23 lbs for the 20’ · Transport: ski bag · Setup: minutes · No radials to lay

Schoolkids Build a DX Antenna in 90 Minutes

The same assembly simplicity that makes the ski bag system work in the field makes it accessible to anyone. A group of schoolkids assembled a full 20’ DX Vertical in 90 minutes — no prior experience, no special tools. If that’s the build time for first-timers, the experienced operator gets on the air considerably faster.

What This Means for Portable Operators

POTA activators, SOTA operators, Field Day teams, and anyone who wants a serious HF antenna away from home face the same constraint: the antenna has to go somewhere, set up fast, and perform on whatever ground exists at that location.

Radial-dependent verticals need soft ground, a spool of wire, and time to deploy a ground system before the antenna can do its job. The VDA skips all of that: the lower half of the dipole does the radials’ job. Park concrete, beach sand, granite summit, parking lot — no radials to lay, anywhere.

More from the Greyline Operator Network

Ham Radio is fun again! Pass it on… 73, Jon KL2A

Greyline Performance · Sun Valley, Idaho · Contact · 435-200-4902