Monster in DARC 10m 2024

PA1B with the Monster Cylinder Dipole 
Wingspan 35 cm - 15 inch

I took part in the DARC 10 meter contest with the Monster Cylinder Dipole. This cylinder dipole is called the Monster, because it is made of two  Mønster  Energy Drink cans and a coil.
The wingspan is 38 cm which is 15 inch.

In the past I used the Monster cylinder dipole on 21 MHz. On 21 MHz the dipole is doing well.
I was curious how the Monster Dipole would do on 28 MHz.

Indoor antenna with a wingspan of 35 cm
The dipole is hanging in the dormer window (Im Dachfenster) and is connected to the tuner with 300 ohm twinlead. The tuner does not tune the antenna, but is adjusting the impedance.

Strong signals
When I started in the DARC 10 meter contest, I noticed that the signals were strong S+.
Strong signals are a good sign. Please notice that the antenne is very small, so the voltage of the received signal will be very low. 

CW QRP S&P
I always work with CW QRP. 
The first station that I worked was LZ55ZF. I answered his CQ with power of 2.7 Watt. I received an immediate correct respons and logged the contact. The distance is 1100 Miles. Not bad for an antenna with a wingspan of 35 cm or 15 inch. Hi.
I was in the contest for 1 hour and 1 minute and made a total of 5 QSO's. 

4 DXCC's
I could easily work stations over a distance of 1000 miles or 1600 km with just 3 watt.

PA1B in DARC 10m contest
3 Watt in Monster Cylinder Dipole 

Local QRM on 10 meter
The local QRM was strong. It was S9. When I switched the MorseMachine off, the local QRM was S8. The MorseMachine is the main source of QRM. Luckely is 10 meter the only band, on which the MorseMachine will give QRM. Switching the MorseMachine off during listening, does not work. Switching off on receive is not fast enough. I tried in a dry run, but that would in a real QSO result in missing the exchange. So I leave the MorseMachine on during the whole QSO.

I am very pleased with this result.

More info on the << Monster Cylinder Dipole >>