Free is Better

The next project I'd planned to do, before I was forced to hang out here at City Island, was to setup my SSB. I wanted to use my backstay, but since I didn't want to cut it, I ran an old ss halyard up next to it and was going to use that instead. The beauty of that solution was that it didn't cost me anything.

I still haven't had time to hook the radio or tuner back up, but since the mast is down and I'm in the process of replacing all the shrouds, I've been trying to figure out whether or not I wanted to have the rigger cut my new backstay and install one or two insulators. I was also trying to figure out what length to make it if I did have him cut it.

After searching a bit and reading about vertical antennas -- I also have a copy of the ARRL Antenna Book, but it's massive and I haven't made much headway yet -- I'm going to go the simple route and use my uninsulated backstay as is. I'll place the tuner in the lazarette and run a piece of GTO-15 to the feed point about 6-8 feet off the deck. Evidently, this is called a "grounded multi-pole vertical" antenna, and should work just fine.

I read about it on one of the cruising message boards, and it's funny that the guy who posted it is a ham and has been doing this for years, but since it's so simple and doesn't cost anything (other than the parts you already have) most of the other posters wouldn't accept it. They'd prefer to buy something, the more expensive the better, instead of even trying something that's essentially free.

Blows my mind -- me being a "free is better" kind of guy.