A painters pole antenna mast seemed like a good idea.

My wife & I are going on a trip soon and I wanted to take my HF radio with me. I did not want to spend the money on a Tarheel or a screwdriver antenna yet so I opted to make a portable lightweight antenna and mast. I had been doing some research and found several people had been using a fiberglass telescoping painters pole for antenna mast. So the other day I purchased a 6-12 foot painters pole and some Paracord. I already had a 1:1 balun and some No 13. Poly-Stealth antenna wire and some extra coax laying around.

I’m taking my ICOM IC-730 and my MFJ Versa Tuner II because that’s what I have available. I will be running off of battery power. The batteries are going to be charged by the 145w solar panel that is also going with us. The 2 AGM  batteries will also be running our Norcold 12v refrigerator and to charge are cell phones via USB and charge our laptops through a 750w inverter.

This is gonna be an interesting trip because we still have to work/run our business while traveling. Furthermore, the plan is to be gone 3-3.5 weeks. Main reason for going is to attend the Overland Expo near Flagstaff, Arizona.

I will do an update on this set-up after our trip to tell you how it went!

---